Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard pushed back on the notion that he’s one of the targets of a new policy on overload management, saying Monday that “if the league is trying to mock me … they should stop.”

He was reacting to the NBA’s new Player Participation Policy (PPP) that was passed last month. That is, once someone told him.

“What are they?” Leonard first answered when asked about his thoughts.

“Load management” became synonymous with Leonard’s playing time beginning while he was still in Toronto after a knee injury.

“If the league is trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured during that whole year,” Leonard told reporters Monday. “But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball.

“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down for load management. … I work out every day in the summertime to play the game, not to sit out and watch others play,” Leonard said. “No league policy is helping me to play more games.”

The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the PPP, a policy preventing teams from resting more than one “star” player in a game and setting forth punishments for violating the measure.

A star is defined as someone who made an All-Star team or All-NBA team in the past three seasons. The PPP replaces the Player Resting Policy and will be implemented for the 2023-24 season.

The new policy also dictates that teams ensure the availability of star players for nationally televised games and for the in-season tournament, which will make its debut in 2023-24. Teams must balance games missed on the road vs. home, with the preference leaning toward more home games missed.

The Clippers got 52 games out of Leonard and 56 from fellow All-Star Paul George during the 2022-23 regular season. George missed the final nine games of the season and the full playoff series against Phoenix. Leonard was absent for the final three games of the series after tearing the meniscus in his right knee.

Leonard, who missed all of the 2021-22 season after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn right ACL, has not played more than 57 games in a season since coming to Los Angeles in 2019.

George’s 56 games last season were a personal best in his four years with the team.

“If I’m hurt, I can’t play basketball,” Leonard said. “These last two years … I tore my ACL, I tore my meniscus. … I either guard the best player, or the best player is guarding me.”

–Field Level Media

Suspended Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant will be able to practice and travel with the team while he sits out preseason contests and the first 25 games of the regular season.

The NBA suspended Morant for 25 games without pay in June for brandishing a handgun in a viral video for the second time.

Morant is eligible to return on Dec. 19, when the Grizzlies play the New Orleans Pelicans.

“He’s gonna be around us full-time,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said Monday.

“It’s a unique circumstance that we’re going to have to navigate,” Jenkins said. “I think everyone understands it and is going to be better prepared going into the season knowing he is training his tail off still fully integrated with the team, and our group is going to be handling their business as we’ve always done.”

Based on his $33.5 million salary for 2023-24, the suspension will cost Morant approximately $10.2 million.

The video, which was on Instagram Live, featured Morant waving a gun while sitting in the passenger’s seat of a car while listening to rap music. The clip was released on May 13, and the Grizzlies suspended the guard from all team activities the following day.

It was the second time in three months that Morant was caught with a firearm on social media. He previously was suspended eight games and sought counseling after a March 4 incident in which he filmed himself holding a gun at a Denver strip club following a 113-97 loss to the Nuggets.

Morant, 24, is heading into his fifth season with Memphis after the Grizzlies selected him with the second overall pick in the 2019 draft. A two-time All-Star, Morant averaged 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 8.1 assists in 61 games (59 starts) in 2022-23.

–Field Level Media

Excitement for the debut of 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio continues to climb as the start of the 2023-24 NBA season approaches. But apparently nobody told chronically dour head coach Gregg Popovich.

How will Popovich and the Spurs use the No. 1 pick in the draft this season?

“I have no idea,” said Popovich, speaking at media day in San Antonio on Monday.

One of the most anticipated NBA prospects in league history, Wembanyama had one massive game (27 points, 12 rebounds) and one big effort in summer league with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks before he was shut down by the Spurs.

Protecting the franchise centerpiece is part of Popovich’s role this season as the Spurs look to build back up from a 60-loss season. San Antonio hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2019. Wembanyama said he gained “10-15 pounds” since the draft and has never been in better physical condition.

Wembanyama said San Antonio is “a really good place,” and that he has been treated like family by strangers he encounters in public.

The closer the Spurs get to starting the regular season, the more the reality of what the franchise needs from Wembanyama comes into focus.

“It’s hitting me more and more every day. At first, I didn’t really realize how big of an impact this could be. It’s really funny walking around or driving around and seeing my face on some signs,” Wembanyama said. “I love it, you know.”

Popovich said he hasn’t spent “any moment whatsoever” thinking about how Wembanyama will fit in with teammates or in the city of San Antonio.

“For his age, he’s a thinking person. He’s highly intelligent. He’s just a good man. So (he) hasn’t had nor will he have any problem blending in and gaining the respect of his teammates or understanding our community and what responsibilities he has there.”

Popovich wouldn’t even commit to a starting lineup — or Wembanyama being a starter — rewinding to when the championship Spurs used Manu Ginobili as their sixth man.

“If Manu Ginobili can come off the bench, anyone can, and I don’t want to hear it,” Popovich said.

Wembanyama, 19, averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 34 games with Mets 92 during the LNB Pro A French League’s 2022-23 regular season. He led the league in points, rebounds and blocks and was named Defensive Player of the Year.

–Field Level Media

DeMar DeRozan appreciates the continuity of the Chicago Bulls’ roster entering the season and believes his hot topic contract will take care of itself.

“That continuity goes so far,” DeRozan said Monday. “Sometimes you’ve got to hit the wall hard to help each other get back up. … That’s one thing that always put me in position to have successful teams — continuity.”

DeRozan said “the third time is the charm” when asked whether pairing with Zach LaVine can be different in their third season together in Chicago.

The Bulls lost a play-in game to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat after eliminating Toronto in April. They last won a playoff series in 2015.

DeRozan, 34, is a six-time All-Star with an expiring deal he signed to join the Bulls in 2021. DeRozan and the Bulls have communicated about stretching his current contract beyond this season, his 14th. But DeRozan said he’s staying out of it and relying on Aaron Goodwin to handle his business.

“I have an agent. He deals with it and I tell him to leave me the hell alone so I can focus on my five kids,” DeRozan said. “I’m not kidding you, I try not to focus on that and let him handle what he needs to handle.”

DeRozan isn’t itching to set any new landmarks or personal bests with his next contract. He said most of what he needs and expects out of a contract is similar or the same as it was when he was acquired in a sign-and-trade with the San Antonio Spurs in 2021.

“All of it stays the same, but the goal at the end of the day is wanting to win. The way I look at it, I look at it from both sides,” DeRozan said. “It’s just got to make sense. For me, it’s all about understanding what we can do to win. How we can win. Obviously this is a place I want to be. You can take that out of the equation.”

–Field Level Media

Former Phoenix Suns backup point guard Cameron Payne signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks announced the addition on Monday as training camp kicked off.

The Suns traded Payne, a 2025 second-round draft pick and $5.6 million to San Antonio for a future second-round pick in mid-July, but he was waived by the Spurs.

Payne played the last four seasons with the Suns. He has averaged 8.0 points and 3.4 assists in 327 career games (56 starts) for Oklahoma City, Chicago, Cleveland and Phoenix. He was selected No. 14 overall by the Thunder in the 2015 draft.

Payne, 29, has also played in 53 career playoff games, including the 2021 NBA Finals against the Bucks.

–Field Level Media

Training camp opened Monday in Philadelphia where the narrative around the 76ers became abundantly clear.

Team president Daryl Morey disagrees with the sentiment the 76ers aren’t on the same tier as retooled title contenders in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.

“We come in every day and feel like we’re going to show the league this is a team that can win. I understand there’s a lot of skepticism right now,” Morey said. “Let us show you in the regular season. Let us show you in the playoffs.”

Morey hired a new head coach, Nick Nurse, to replace Doc Rivers and his final roster might not have taken shape. The 76ers and James Harden, who demanded a trade, remain at odds over the best path forward. Harden was missing when the 76ers met with media on Monday.

Morey put added emphasis on the tandem of league MVP Joel Embiid and point guard Tyrese Maxey.

“We have the MVP of the league. We have one of the great up-and-coming players in the league,” Morey said of Embiid and Maxey.

Boston failed to reach the NBA Finals last season but acquired point guard Jrue Holiday as part of a massive roster reconstruction. The Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Wizards in an offseason deal that sent Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies. Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams were dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers for Holiday. Grant Williams joined the Dallas Mavericks.

Milwaukee has fewer moving parts as the Bucks return to work but will need to assimilate point guard Damian Lillard into the system alongside two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

But the 76ers aren’t trying to prove they are contenders for the Eastern Conference and NBA title, Morey insisted. But there are no indications the third All-Star level talent, Harden, plans to join the team picture any time soon.

“In terms of a trade, I will continue to work on those fronts and, if he’s here, then coach will work with him on the court. I think it’s pretty straight forward,” he said. “He continues to seek a trade and we are continuing to work with his representation to find the best solution for the 76ers and all parties.”

Nurse said not having Harden is a possibility that forces him to use a “Plan A or Plan B” approach, leaving open the possibility that he could join the team.

He tipped his hand that without Harden, “Tyrese gets the ball in his hands a lot more.”

Maxey averaged 20.4 points, 3.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game last season. The 22-year-old is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Embiid opened the door to discussion around his future in the offseason when he said his only goal is to win an NBA title “in Philly or anywhere else.”

Morey said he spoke with Embiid on Sunday and came away with the belief he’s committed to the team long-term.

Embiid signed a four-year, $213 million contract extension in 2021 that runs through 2026-27 and averages more than $52 million per season.

Embiid said it’s “unfortunate what’s been going on” with Harden, who was fined by the NBA for calling Morey a liar. Embiid said his focus has to be on what he can do for the 76ers.

“I believe any team that I’m on is going to have a chance (to win the NBA title). We just need a little bit of luck and to stay healthy,” he said.

–Field Level Media

Toronto Raptors big man Christian Koloko is out indefinitely due to respiratory issues.

The team announced Monday that he will not participate in training camp in Vancouver.

Koloko, 23, was Toronto’s second-round draft pick (33rd overall) in 2022 out of Arizona.

The 7-foot-1 center averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 58 games (19 starts) as a 2022-23 rookie.

The Raptors said Koloko’s condition will be updated as appropriate.

–Field Level Media