Darius Garland Gives Big Injury Update to Tease Nearing Clippers Debut

The Clippers' newest addition provides an injury update.

Feb 4, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers Darius Garland is greeted by Los Angeles Clippers forward John Collins (20) during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Now that they had some time to digest the news of James Harden's departure, Clippers fans are ready to see their new man in action. Darius Garland was at Intuit Dome in street clothes on Wednesday, watching his new team get blown out by his former team. The Clippers, after losing two straight home games to fall to 23-27 for the season, are also desperately waiting to see Garland on the court.

Fortunately for them, Garland just provided a positive injury update. The 26-year-old point guard, who has been out with a toe injury since January 16, said his recovery is going well and he's "back on the court working out," per team insider Joey Linn. Garland added, "Just waiting on the green light. I'm ready to hoop."

Darius Garland Is Ready to Make His Clippers Debut

This is great news for the Clippers, who are about to embark on a four-game road trip before the All-Star break.

Garland has missed the last ten games with a Grade 1 sprain of his right big toe. The initial reporting had said that he would miss at least one week and be re-evaluated in seven to ten days. It has been two and a half weeks since then, so Garland should be nearing a return.

There is obviously a risk in rushing Garland back. He had surgery on his left big toe over the summer, forcing him to miss the start of the season. His toe had given him trouble in the playoffs last year, so the Clippers have to proceed with caution when it comes to Garland and his current injury.

Garland's first chance to return will be against the Kings on Friday. The Clippers play the Timberwolves before traveling to Houston to take on the Rockets on a back-to-back in their final games before the All-Star break. The Clippers may understandably choose to hold Garland out of this four games in six nights stretch and want him to make his return after the break. That will likely depend on how the talented point guard does in his workouts over the next few days.

When discussing Garland's arrival, there was a lot of emphasis on playing with tempo. Both Ty Lue and Kawhi Leonard talked about the pace Garland plays with and how they are looking forward to integrate that into their offense. For the sake of the Clippers' season, let's hope that Garland is healthy and ready to show what he can do on the new-look, fast Clippers offense.