The NBA preseason is underway and teams are now playing against each other in exhibition games before the season officially starts two weeks from now. Teams have cut down their roster and some players have been ruled out due to injury concerns. Martell Webster officially announced on his twitter page that he will retire from the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs has announced that Kawhi Leonard will not play in the preseason due to a quad tendinopathy.
Webster announces retirement from the NBA
Basketball insider has reported that Martell Webster, through his twitter account, is officially retiring from the NBA.
A couple of weeks ago, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Martell Webster was invited to the New Orleans Pelicans training camp, in the hopes of making an NBA comeback. But just yesterday it seems like Webster has decided to hang up the boots and stay with his family.
Martell Webster entered the NBA in the offseason of 2005 where he was drafted with the sixth overall pick by the Portland Trailblazers. Webster played a total of 10 seasons in the NBA, five for the Portland Trailblazers, two seasons for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and three for the Washington Wizards. Webster joined the New Orleans Pelicans training camp on September 25 this year but decided to leave five days into the camp to retire from the NBA.
Leonard to miss preseason due to injury
The San Antonio Spurs began their training camp with a live inter-squad scrimmage but no Kawhi Leonard was in sight because he was still recovering from his injury. Michael Wright of ESPN reported that Kawhi Leonard will miss the entire NBA preseason due to continuing rehabilitation from the injury (quad tendinopathy) he suffered against the Warriors at the hands of Zaza Pachulia.
San Antonio fans are hoping for the fast recovery of Leonard because Tony Parker is still out until around early January due to the injury he suffered last playoffs.
Kawhi Leonard entered the NBA in the offseason of 2011 where he was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th overall pick, but he was directly traded to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the package that sent George Hill to the Indiana Pacers.
Leonard has been nothing short of amazing the past few years, he was the finals MVP in 2014 and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. Last season he was part of the MVP conversation, he averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks.
