27 April 2023 , 13:03
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Kawhi Leonard has sensationally been told to retire from basketball.
Since he began playing for the LA Clippers in 2019, the two-time NBA champion has missed a plethora of games, either through injury or load management, in order to lower the risk of injuries. But fans were left disappointed after the 31-year-old competed in the first two games of his team’s playoff series with the Phoenix Suns then missed the last three with a knee injury which has since been diagnosed as a torn meniscus.
On ESPN’s First Take, sports analyst Stephen A Smith, not afraid of speaking his mind, has grown so frustrated with Leonard’s lack of availability, especially at crucial times, that he thinks he should hang up his sneakers for good. “Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers should force Kawhi Leonard to retire. I’m done. He needs to go home. It’s over.” Smith commented.
“I’m not in any way questioning the legitimacy of Kawhi Leonard’s injury. A matter of fact, I’m fully embracing it. I’ve heard very, very alarming stories about his health, you see people talking about he’s walking around limping all the time, he is not a healthy individual. I’m not questioning his heart, I’m not questioning his courage, I’m not questioning any of that, the man’s a two-time champion, he’s a two-time MVP.”
Leonard scored 38 points and 31 points respectively in games one and two of their first round series, but was ruled out of the remaining three games. With Paul George out for the entire series, the pair watched on as Devin Booker and Kevin Durant ran riot on the Clippers and won the series 4-1, despite the best efforts of Russell Westbrook, Norman Powell and co.
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ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith made his intentions known on what Kawhi Leonard's future should look like (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)The Clippers lost the series in five games and something Smith struggled to comprehend was how Leonard was able to play so well in the opening two games and not be available for the following match 48 hours later. “This is the difference between him and Paul George or various other people,” Smith said.
“We see them get hurt. We watch Kawhi drop 38 one game like he did in Game 1 against Phoenix, 31 in Game 2, and walk off the court. Next thing you know, Ty Lue gets a note, he ain’t available today, and he ain’t available next week, and he ain’t available the next game. You don’t know why, but you hear, and you hear, and you hear stories.”
Smith also criticised the NBA star’s personality and claimed he does not do enough to promote basketball. Along with feeling the Clippers are unable to rely on Leonard, Smith is of the belief that he team’s higher-ups need to move on from the two-time Finals MVP.
Leonard missed three of the Clippers' five games against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Playoffs (Getty Images)“You got an elite owner, Lawrence Frank is a well-respected executive, Ty Lue is considered one of the best coaches in the business," he added. "And this is what you got to rely on as a player. It’s over, for me. We can talk about the game and all of that stuff, but the culminating point, the end result is, to me, it should be the end.
“I called some league officials and I wanted to know specifically, what can you do to get rid of Kawhi Leonard and make sure he gets his money. He’s got an insurance policy, you can carve it out through the years, make sure he gets every penny, just give him his money and go, because you can’t rely on him, you gotta move on. If you’re the Clippers, you gotta move on.”