Kawhi Leonard's time with the Clippers has been marred by a number of injuries, and his status this season is still questionable.
As the organization plays its season opener in the recently completed Intuit Dome, a new problem has arisen: a lawsuit filed Thursday by a former coach alleges unsafe handling of a star player.
Randy Shelton was the strength and conditioning coach at San Diego State and worked closely with Leonard during his time with the Aztecs.
The lawsuit says the Clippers began looking for Leonard — using Shelton as a liaison — in 2017, years before Leonard joined the team.
After Leonard's devastating ankle injury during the Western Conference Finals in 2016, Clippers assistant general manager Mark Hughes insisted on discretion as he sought the San Antonio Spurs star's private health information from Shelton, the lawsuit states.
Hughes and Shelton spoke about 15 times by phone and seven times in person, Shelton said. The promise: a job as the Clippers' strength and conditioning coach if the team can convince Leonard to join.
The team got their wish, as Leonard and Shelton joined for the 2019 season. From there, Shelton was demoted to the sidelines as a new assistant coach, Todd Wright, took over his responsibilities, the lawsuit said.
Shelton's remaining job was to care for Leonard, a job the lawsuit says was made more difficult on purpose as the team excluded Shelton from meetings and “withheld necessary treatment and information that impacted Leonard's training and health.”
Leonard's life went on. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the 2021 playoffs, and Shelton set a two-year recovery goal — a timetable the Clippers didn't want to accept, he said.
When Leonard returned for the 2022-23 season, the team promised that minutes would be limited and that the forward would not play back-to-back games, but he failed to deliver on that promise, Shelton said. After the first two games, Leonard complained of knee swelling and inflammation, and an MRI revealed cartilage damage.
The lawsuit says Leonard was “given biologics to help the problem” instead of allowing the player the necessary time to heal. Less than a month later, in November 2022, Leonard returned to play and sprained his ankle within a week.
Again, Shelton says, the team wants to be productive, bypassing Shelton's advice and withholding information from him. Shelton says the team started to force him out after that.
While Leonard battled these multiple injuries and the team's record faltered, his minutes per game increased from 32 in December 2022 to 35 in January and 38 in February.
This heavy workload, which included one set of back-to-back games in March and April 2023, helped lead the team to the playoffs as the 5th seed. In the first round against Phoenix, Leonard tore his meniscus and damaged the cartilage in his repaired ACL, requiring another operation.
After the injury, Shelton complained to the team. He said, per the lawsuit, that “the mishandling of Kawhi Leonard's injury and return to action has been shocking,” and that “the neglect of his recovery process is unacceptable.”
The Clippers conducted an internal investigation, which was completed in June 2023 and found no wrongdoing. In July, President Lawrence Frank fired Shelton without cause, according to Shelton.
During the 2023-24 season, Leonard suffered another concussion that required yet another surgery. Shelton blames the team for pushing Leonard too hard.
“The Clippers put revenue and winning above all else, even the health and safety of their 'franchise' player in Leonard,” the lawsuit said.
Leonard missed the Olympics and will start the season. The date of his return is unclear.
The Clippers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement given to Chris Haynes, the NBA reporter who first reported on this case, the Clippers said: “Mr. Shelton's claims were investigated and found to be ineligible. We respected the employment contract of Mr. Shelton and we paid him in full. This case is a late attempt to shake up the Clippers based on the allegations Mr. Shelton should know they are false.”
Source link
