Kawhi Leonard is headed back to the sidelines and he'll stay there until his leg is ready.
The San Antonio Spurs decided to shut their All-Star NBA forward down on Wednesday, saying Leonard would be out indefinitely as he continues his recovery from injury.
"We didn't feel he was ready. His confidence level wasn't there, so we decided to give it some more time," coach Gregg Popovich said before the Spurs played the Brooklyn Nets.
Leonard has played in just nine games after missing the beginning of the season because of right quadriceps Tendinopathy. He also was sidelined briefly because of a shoulder injury.
Popovich said Leonard hadn't sustained another injury, but also didn't seem confident in his ability to play at the level that had him finishing third in the voting for NBA MVP last season.
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"He didn't reinjure it or anything but he was having pain, but not right after games, but maybe the next day at noon or that kind of thing and so the pain wasn't dissipating," Popovich said.
"It wasn't going in the right direction, it was going the other way and you've got to be confident in your body to go out there and play at the level that he's expected to play."
Popovich said Leonard would be back this season.
