Kawhi Leonard absent for the Paris Olympics, Derrick White with the American team

Kawhi Leonard will not participate in the upcoming Paris Olympics for Team USA, which replaced the LA Clippers forward with Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.

In a statement released Wednesday, USA Basketball suggested Leonard’s decision was influenced by Clippers and Team USA officials after observing training camp in Las Vegas over the past three days.

It would have been the first Olympic trip for Leonard, who missed 12 of the Clippers’ final 14 games last season because of inflammation in his right knee.

Clippers coach Ty Lue is part of the U.S. team’s coaching staff. Clippers officials, including team president Lawrence Frank, attended practices at UNLV this week.

“Kawhi has been preparing for the Olympics over the past few weeks and had some intense workouts in Las Vegas. He felt ready to compete,” USA Basketball said. “However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers decided it was in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than competing in the Olympics in Paris.”

White, who recently signed a four-year, $126 million extension, played for Team USA at the 2019 World Cup. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.2 assists for the NBA champion Celtics last season.

“I am pleased to announce that Derrick will compete in his first Olympic Games after a championship season in Boston,” said USA Basketball CEO Grant Hill. “We look forward to having him join the team in the coming days as we continue our preparations for Paris.”

“I want to thank Kawhi for his commitment to the U.S. Men’s National Team. He has earned the opportunity to represent the United States, but the leadership at USA Basketball and the Clippers felt it was important to allow Kawhi to prepare for the NBA season.”

Leonard said he had been rehabbing his knee for the past two months and wasn’t sure he would play until two weeks ago, when he showed improvement.

“I took my time and I was able to get back on track over the last couple of weeks,” Leonard said Sunday. “So I’m here now and, yeah, I’m having a good time.”

Leonard said Tuesday he expects to play in Team USA’s first exhibition game Wednesday night against Team Canada, but referred to his knee being in “neutral” condition.

White will not be with the team Wednesday night but is expected to join the U.S. team this weekend in Abu Dhabi – the first of two international stops for more games and training before arriving in France for the Olympics.

NBA teams do not have the power to prevent players under contract from playing for their national teams, although it is usually done by mutual decision. Canadian team general manager Rowan Barrett said two weeks ago that the Golden State Warriors were excluding forward Andrew Wiggins from the Olympics, although the team said it was a mutual decision.

The U.S. team is also dealing with an injury to forward Kevin Durant, who was unable to participate in practice due to a calf strain and will not play Wednesday night.

Leonard, who is set to sign a three-year, $150 million contract with the Clippers, has been unable to complete the last two playoff series because of right knee injuries. The two-time NBA champion and six-time All-NBA player has missed 256 regular-season games over the past seven years, including the entire 2021-22 season, because of knee issues. He played 68 games last season for the Clippers, his most since playing 74 for San Antonio in the 2016-17 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.