Last Wednesday, USA Basketball announced that two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard would not play in the Paris Olympics, stating that the decision was "in his [Leonard's] best interest" while implying that both USA Basketball and the Los Angeles Clippers were involved in the decision.
Well, the Los Angeles Clippers are here to tell you that that's not true.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank spoke to reporters Monday and said the decision to pull Leonard from the Olympics was "USA Basketball's call."
But that's not all Frank said.
"No, it was USAB's call and I was quite frankly very disappointed with the decision," Frank said. "Kawhi wanted to play. We wanted him to play. I was there the first two practices, he looked very good."
"Was a full participant in everything that they did. I wasn't there for the third practice where ultimately that was the point where they decided to go in a different direction [last Wednesday]. I expressed to them I really wish that they would've given Kawhi more time."
Come on. There's no way the Clippers are actually disappointed by this turn of events.
Leonard, 33, has never played a full 82-game slate in his 12 seasons in the league. The closest he came to doing so was back in 2016-17, when he played 74 games for the San Antonio Spurs and finished third in the MVP voting. The next season, he played a career-low nine games due to a quadriceps injury.
Since joining Los Angeles ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, Leonard has been riddled with injuries. He "load managed" his way through his first season in Los Angeles, playing in just 57 of 82 games. A partially torn ACL cut a seemingly-promising playoff run short in the 2021 postseason.
Then, after returning from the ACL injury, Leonard seemed healthy heading into the 2023 playoffs, only to suffer a torn meniscus during the Clippers' first round series against the Phoenix Suns.
This season, for the fourth straight postseason, Leonard was forced to watch from the sidelines due to swelling in his repaired right knee.
Now, ask yourself: Is there any way the Clippers, who have watched these injuries plague Leonard year-after-year, could actually be upset that the oft-injured, six-time All-Star is getting more time to rest up his knees, as opposed to more time on the court?
Especially after the Clippers signed Leonard to a three-year, $152 million contract back in January. Especially after the Clippers and then-free agent—and Leonard's running mate—Paul George departed Los Angeles for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency in June.
Now, it's far more likely that Leonard, who has never played for USA Basketball in his career and said that it's "been his dream" to get the opportunity, is the one who is "very disappointed" by the decision.
And as supportive of said dream as the Clippers publicly were, the franchise's private position on Leonard's withdrawal is likely something closer to relief. But it's far easier for the Clippers to point the finger at Team USA's officials for the decision, than accept their own portion of responsibility and risk further upsetting their taciturn superstar.
No matter how healthy Leonard looked at USA Basketball during training camp or how cautiously Team USA approached his workload in Paris, no amount of precautions can prevent an injury.
We've seen that firsthand with Leonard's tenure in Los Angeles. Injuries happen. It's sports.
So don't believe the Clippers' pearl-clutching. It's nothing more than a franchise simply looking to keep its best player happy.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as There's No Way Clippers Are Actually Upset Kawhi Leonard Isn't Playing in Olympics.
