Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs' former NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, has reportedly "grown distant" with the organization that drafted him after problems with his injury worsened this season.
The superstar forward has been relatively invisible in the NBA this season, missing all but eight games due to a lingering leg injury that he sustained during game one of the Western Conference finals in Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors. The injury has caused Leonard to miss the All-star game. The Spurs, however, have not missed a beat as they currently sit third in the Western Conference behind the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets.
The management of the Spurs organization has particularly been shoddy and strange. Leonard was expected to miss a few weeks to start the regular season, but February has arrived, and the former All-star has yet to play an actual stretch of games.
In a recent game against the Denver Nuggets, Leonard was listed as inactive due to "injury management," with the player's actual injury not being made clear. This caused several analysts such as ESPN's Jalen Rose and Stephen A. Smith to speculate on what could be a brewing tension between the superstar and the organization.
Smith said in an episode of "First Take" on ESPN that while it is rare for the Spurs to have problems with players, it was only made possible due to five-time champion Tim Duncan "spoiling" the Spurs.
To even take things further, Rose mentioned in the same episode that the Spurs struggling to bring top-quality stars to play alongside Leonard could be another reason for their frustration.The analyst further mentioned that all of this alleged "unhappiness" by Leonard is also tied to the Spurs' mismanagement of his leg injury.
Gregg Popovich, long-time head coach of the Spurs, has shot down these rumors and labeled them as "silly." The San Antonio Spurs have also shot down trade inquiries for the 26-year-old forward. According to Leonard, he is near to a full return to the court soon, just in time to wrap up the season after the All-star break.
