The San Antonio Spurs may have reached the NBA playoffs for the 21st consecutive season, but they have a difficult task taking on Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors in the first round.
Already trailing 1-0 in the best-of-seven series, the Spurs received some bad news regarding star player Kawhi Leonard. The 2014 NBA Champion and Finals MVP will likely miss the remainder of the postseason as he continues to deal with a half injury, per Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
It's brutal news to a Spurs team that has won five championships since 1999. With core players in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili getting up there in age, time is running low on San Antonio to add another title to their dynasty. Without Leonard, it's next-to-impossible to see how they'll make much noise in the postseason.
The 26-year-old has only appeared in nine games this season, scoring 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Without Leonard, head coach Gregg Popovich was able to squeeze enough victories out with a depleted roster - thanks in large part to the All-Star play of LaMarcus Aldridge.
Leonard's nagging calf injury has seemingly led to a lot of drama inside the Spurs locker room. Along with the many trade rumors centering the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, some players have seemingly taken shots at Leonard for opting to sit out.
This includes Parker, who said that a ruptured quadriceps injury he had was "100 times worse than" Leonard's. On top of that, reports surfaced in March that the Spurs held a meeting, trying to convince Leonard to come back and play.
If and probably when the Spurs get sent home from the playoff early, there will be plenty of work to be done with the Leonard saga. Is he going to stay here long-term, or are there too many fractures in his relationship with the Spurs? It promises to be one very intriguing offseason in Texas.