Last month, Stephen A. Smith had joked about Los Angeles Clippers wing Kawhi Leonard dropping out of the USA Men’s Basketball Team for the upcoming Paris Olympics. At the time, Paul George, who was still officially Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers teammate, was Stephen A. Smith’s co-panelist on the ESPN NBA Countdown show covering the NBA Finals. As things stand now, George has left the Clippers for the Philadelphia 76ers. Meanwhile, Leonard has also pulled out of Team USA citing his chronic knee issues, giving a perfect “I told you so” opportunity to Stephen A. Smith.
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The not-so-surprised 56-year-old spoke about Leonard’s withdrawal on a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show. The ESPN analyst declared that if Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was behind Leonard’s exit from the Olympics, he’d understand Ballmer’s concerns.
Of course, the tech billionaire would want his forward, who’s almost always injured in critical junctures of the season, not to risk any injury in a non-NBA setting. Stephen A. Smith thought it was the right course of action because Leonard has missed almost half of the games in his Clippers’ tenure. Smith expressed his thoughts pretty clearly,
“If Clippers owner Steve Ballmer used every trick in the book to manipulate the proceedings per se and made sure Kawhi Leonard wasn’t representing Team USA, I wouldn’t blame him one bit.”
Then the veteran analyst doubled down and declared that Leonard’s persistent injury issues are the primary reason why Paul George’s departure from the Clippers for the 76ers seems like a good move. As per Stephen A. Smith, the perpetual anxiety about Leonard’s availability may have driven him to Embiid and Co. He added,
“See this is why I’m glad Paul George left because in order to stay, why stay if you don’t know you’re gonna have Kawhi Leonard on the basketball court with you?”
Stephen A. has always been critical of Kawhi’s propensity to get injured during the business end of the season. Even though Smith admits that the two-time NBA Champion’s injuries are genuine, he also feels that it’s the player’s responsibility as well to stay healthy for his team. What has irked the veteran analyst further is the fact that Kawhi has always been keen on signing big extension deals despite his issues with availability.
Leonard’s injury concerns are reminiscent of some other top-notch athletes who suffered career-altering injuries. One of them was once touted as the next Michael Jordan, but injuries took away his prime.
Grant Hill can understand Kawhi Leonard’s pain
While Leonard’s knees have held him back, Grant Hill was badgered by chronic ankle injuries. After beginning his career in a superstar-esque fashion, Hill’s career derailed at the turn of 21st century as he became a shadow of himself after a grueling recovery process. After Leonard bowed out from the Olympic squad, Hill talked about feeling a bonhomie as someone whose career was plagued with injuries as well.
In a sit-down on Sirius XM, he stated, “Maybe I felt a kinship of sorts, you know, because I had struggled with injuries. So there’s some empathy for a guy who was a great player who’s gone through some challenges.”
While Kawhi Leonard has indeed drawn the short end of the stick for the past half-decade or so, he has already built a Hall-of-Fame resume. Having two Finals MVPs in his backpack is a proof of his greatness. But Clippers fans would have loved to see him win another Finals MVP as their ace. For now, they have to play the waiting game regarding him once again.
