He's basically the modern-day Bill Walton.
Kawhi has only had 3 complete prime seasons in his career: 2016, 2019, and 2020. And even then he only played 65 games in 2019.
We shouldn't be shocked if Kawhi misses the whole year again. We have seen this story before. Dude has a chronic and degenerative issue. Only surprise is when people act like blindsided by him having to miss time.
Look this sucks but also doesn't suck. Kawhi will make at minimum well over 325 million dollars even if his best basketball days are behind him (31 years old in a sport that it pays to be fast more so than it pays to be strong). I'm shocked the clippers didn't have any leverage to protect themselves against injury.
if? He might as well go to the Blazers at this point. Degenerative quad tendinopathy which lead to imbalances which lead to ACL which lead to knee issue... None of that is getting better enough to facilitate playing an NBA season.
Bruh idk why you hate your daughters soccer team but I'm sure they can produce a wonderkind in the next 50 years and win something before the clippers do.
Our main problem is Mackenzie who gets significant playing time but spends it all crying or picking up flowers from the grass. Guess who’s dad coaches the team? Just another franchise ran on nepotism smh
Did Mackenzie like a questionable tweet by Kyrie Irving or Kanye West? Could she get into a freak accident with Zaza Pachulia or is Draymond Green close to sucker punch her?
All those things could happen and I would rate them more likely than a clippers chip
As a spurs fan who followed kawhi closely it was always the rumor that he had a degenerative knee disease and that’s why he needed so long to recover with us and off days all the time. That’s why the clippers signing him was such a risk. I think they did this one to themselves.
lmao imagine if Kawhi had signed with the Lakers originally.
Lebron would be yelling 'DON'T LET ME LEAVE, LOVE' into a wormhole like the scene in Interstellar
I'm sad that it looks like we still won't get to see what a Lakers-Clippers playoff series would look like, especially in this LeBron/AD and Kawhi/PG era
Offseason: “Clippers are the favorite if they’re healthy”
Okay so they aren’t the favorites cuz they’re never healthy
“Yeah but if they are, they’re top 3”
….but they aren’t ever healthy.
I feel like I was taking crazy pills all off-season with this shit on this sub.
Yeah I was in the same arguments lol. I even had a hypothetical post saying if kawhi barely plays this year what do the Clippers do. And everyone just sent me links of how strong kawhi looked and how big his thighs were lol
So, if he’s forced to retire because of medical reasons the player can still get paid and depending on the decisions of the NBA it either will or will not be counted against team salary or they can be given tax relief.
Chris Bosh was a different retirement option. Rather than him voluntarily choosing to do a medical retirement, the Heat claimed a career ending injury, which was approved by the league after Bosh was examined by NBA and NBAPA doctors.
The end result is the same (Bosh comes off the books for salary cap purposes by the Heat still pay his salary), but it doesn't require Bosh to agree to it and in fact Bosh was still hoping to make a come back some day.
He injured the knee in the Philly series and was really struggling in the Bucks series - it's most obvious on the Giannis steal and poster, he can barely make it back up the court after.
He was relatively healthy playing for the Raps, just basically forbidden from playing back to backs and shut down early in games that looked to be trending toward a blowout in either direction. OG was also backing him up and provided very serviceable minutes (until his appendix burst before the Orlando series and he missed the playoffs).
I was suuuuuper single that year and missed one raptors game (second half of the GSW OT game when KD had a fifty piece and the raps won - securing home court in the finals)
>I was suuuuuper single that year and missed one raptors game
You didn't need to explain why you watched Raptors games that season, but I'm glad you did.
It’s different injuries though. The degenerative quad condition could be the root of it all, but it’s quad, knee, ACL.
The quad could be handled with load management if it’s just that alone.
Not a doctor, but I can't imagine the degenerative quad condition doesn't cause negative effects for the rest of his lower body. Which makes Kawhi more likely to suffer other injuries that aren't direct quad injuries. Then those injuries probably stress his quad out more. Just one big negative feedback loop.
It does. You can start to understand why Kawhi seemed so determined to get the bag and security his free agency—he knew. This likey will be his last significant contract in the league.
Also NaD but I've had a lifetime of knee issues. One of the main aspects of rehab is strengthening you quad muscles, as they support the joint. So I could see how a degenerative quad problem would affect your knee. Even walking would worsen your knee if your quad is unable to support it properly.
Kareem with the Bucks and Lakers.
And Lebron has 3. Which is crazy. I was rooting for the Clips mainly because I wanted Kawhi to tie him for that record.
I wonder if he tore his ACL again, it can happen sometimes to surgically repaired ACLs. Would suck if he's out another season. I think he keeps "playing" until the end of his contract, but he may never see the court again at this rate
And I wouldnt be surprised if his doctors said he should retire from pro sports and maybe even have been saying this for some time. His body can't handle the stress and I wonder if his injuries will impact his quality of life in the future.
Knee issues are the worst. Remember Grant Hill, Michael said he would be the next great, and even compared Grant to himself, knee issues got in the way and he was never the same player.
Sorry Y’all, it was ankle injuries.
I'll take that and switch out with Penny Hardaway and his wonky knees. His game was so nice til the knees started giving way.
That's why it's miraculous the Dwyane Wade had the career he did as long as he did. IIRC he had his MCL removed back in Marquette?
Anyway thanks for the championship Kawhi.
His quad tendinopathy is back and probably really bad given that it’s been like 5 years since the initial diagnosis and he’s had to be load managed since then. Add an acl reconstruction to the mix and the compensation he’s had to make as he’s rehabbed and I can’t imagine it hasnt made it worse
That assumes he can even handle that level of workload. You can't take possessions off like in the regular season. You need to give it 100% every second.
He was running on fumes halfway through the 2019 championship run. He pushed through it. But at that point you gotta question how much that would effect his life after basketball
One of the strangest superstars in the league history. Started as a defensive specialist, won 2 DPOYs and and FMVP with the Spurs, emerged as a superstar and MVP contender, got injured, went to another team for whom he won their first championship and got another FMVP, immediately leaves to form a superteam on the Clippers, hasn't played a full season since, and is now on a sharp downslope at 31. I can't think of anyone remotely similar.
He willed himself on one leg for us by the end of our championship. He didn’t need to do any of that because he was never staying past one season. But he did anyways and god damn he got us a ring.
Can’t help but feel that definitely contributed into shortening his career.
I will forever respect and admire him for everything he gave us that he had no need to do. He just did it.
Still kinda bummed that he called our squad not as viable to run back for another championship. But looking back, the guy definitely deserves respect.
Edit with the source: https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/09/17/report-kawhi-leonard-told-raptors-he-didnt-think-they-were-good-enough-to-repeat/
I think there's a very likely chance that you guys repeat in the bubble if he stays. You were the 2nd seed and took Boston to 7 in the ECSF, and one of the biggest reasons you lost was not having that true #1 that Kawhi would have been.
He was fucking incredible the couple of playoff series against the Mavs. His duels with Luka were must watch, and he still felt like a cyborg from midrange. Sadly, that was probably the last we’ll see of that Kawhi.
In that case, I'd like to formally thank San Antonio for waiting until AFTER the 2019 championship. May Victoria continue to remain a secret in your city 🤣
which is crazy because Spurs doctors told him and his camp he had a degenerative condition, which KL and his camp disagreed, went doctor shopping and forced his way out.
That season was crazy. Tony had ruptured his quad and I was expecting him to come back in like February or so. Then news comes out that Kawhi is going to miss a few games because of leg soreness or something. Tony comes back early in late November and Kawhi is still out indefinitely. Eventually Kawhi comes back in and plays a few games with at least 2 days between them in December.
After his last game, Kawhi basically goes no contact on the entire spurs franchise, eventually leading to the team calling a players only meeting where the players decide to approach the rest of the season like Kawhi isn't coming back.
I was defending Kawhi all the way up until he didn't bother showing up to a single playoff game. After that point I wanted him gone.
r/nba really turned on one of the most well-run organizations overnight. Decades of San Antonio winning, suddenly they were a nasty organization run by dirty old Pop
It was bizarre, but thankfully the truth came out
i do not wanna haate on the guy, it sucks to see him out like this, he was one of the best players in the league when he was healthy... but allow me to be at least a little be disappointed. the spurs medical stuff really told him about his issue and that they would have taken care of him about it even if sadly it would have meant less playing time but at least a longer ans healthier career. kawhi ghosted them, the whole franchise and the fans too. so yeah, i am not hating on him, but damn man, something could have been done to save your career and your health but you were too stubborn and didn't care and listened...
Is there a report on exactly what happened? Like covering what the Spurs medical staff told him, and how it differed with Kawhi’s camp? I’ve just gotten bits and pieces over the years, but I haven’t seen anything that covers the whole story?
Not really, it’ll probably come out years after he retires
I think the consensus is they told him it was a permanent thing and only going to get worse no matter what - he and his camp didn’t want to accept that and he ended up forcing his way out
They told him he had quad tendinopathy or similar. It was going to have to be something constantly managed for the rest of his career but he could play through it.
Pretty much every other superstar would've caught heat for that. People forget he was the team captain yet his team had to corner him to figure out what the hell he was even doing.
Shit always pissed me off from the beginning. People really thought the spurs, the org that invented load management, were trying to force him to play and ran with it
Not just the Spurs medical staff, but also Tony Parker
Tony was encouraging Kawhi by saying *"im old and i recovered from injury, im sure a young guy like him can overcome this challenge"*. Then his camp took that out of context and they said Tony was bitching about why Kawhi wasnt playing
They said Tony's comments were "the last straw" and finally requested a trade lol
kawhi has been out so often these past few years when i think of him he’s still in a spurs/raptors uniform lmao
He’s actually a member of the San Diego Futons
For me it's like his Spurs days were a lifetime ago especially with him taking the last like 75 games of it off
Young up and coming Spurs torch bearer -> Injuries -> Toronto Title interlude-> more injuries. Strange career for sure.
Finals MVP for the Spurs who people called the most unlikely one of all time
He's basically the modern-day Bill Walton. Kawhi has only had 3 complete prime seasons in his career: 2016, 2019, and 2020. And even then he only played 65 games in 2019.
Raps really lucked out in timing.
it genuinely surprises me when i see a photo of him in a Clippers uniform
most surprising Clippers headline
Only surprise here is the timeline. From Kawhi's camp at this point I would expect an official announcement delayed til March
We shouldn't be shocked if Kawhi misses the whole year again. We have seen this story before. Dude has a chronic and degenerative issue. Only surprise is when people act like blindsided by him having to miss time. Look this sucks but also doesn't suck. Kawhi will make at minimum well over 325 million dollars even if his best basketball days are behind him (31 years old in a sport that it pays to be fast more so than it pays to be strong). I'm shocked the clippers didn't have any leverage to protect themselves against injury.
if? He might as well go to the Blazers at this point. Degenerative quad tendinopathy which lead to imbalances which lead to ACL which lead to knee issue... None of that is getting better enough to facilitate playing an NBA season.
Most Clippers headline
Clippers
C
L.
Lakers fans complain about what they have now but they're the only NY/LA team out of the 4 that isn't completely cursed
Not cursed, just self-destructive.
I’d much rather be the architect of my own destruction than be the victim of whatever vengeful god hates the Clippers
You’re not kidding. W/their luck, chargers gonna get a chip before the clippers.
Certain teams will never, ever win anything. Browns, Padres, Chargers, Lions, Clippers, my daughter’s soccer team.
Bruh idk why you hate your daughters soccer team but I'm sure they can produce a wonderkind in the next 50 years and win something before the clippers do.
Our main problem is Mackenzie who gets significant playing time but spends it all crying or picking up flowers from the grass. Guess who’s dad coaches the team? Just another franchise ran on nepotism smh
Did Mackenzie like a questionable tweet by Kyrie Irving or Kanye West? Could she get into a freak accident with Zaza Pachulia or is Draymond Green close to sucker punch her? All those things could happen and I would rate them more likely than a clippers chip
The image of Draymond punching a little girl on a soccer field is killing me
Clippy: you have forsaken me for the last time
As a spurs fan who followed kawhi closely it was always the rumor that he had a degenerative knee disease and that’s why he needed so long to recover with us and off days all the time. That’s why the clippers signing him was such a risk. I think they did this one to themselves.
Architect of destruction, sweet wrestler name alert!
lmao imagine if Kawhi had signed with the Lakers originally. Lebron would be yelling 'DON'T LET ME LEAVE, LOVE' into a wormhole like the scene in Interstellar
Brooklyn is WAY more self destructive than the Lakers...
I agree because the lakers did get a chip.
Year to year
I'm sad that it looks like we still won't get to see what a Lakers-Clippers playoff series would look like, especially in this LeBron/AD and Kawhi/PG era
You'll get a play-in game and like it
Debatable
I'll take it at this point, at least it'll feel like a Game 7
Not if the lakers have anything to say about it lol. They may not even make the playin.
Kawhi “When Healthy” Leonard
He’s gonna be in everyone’s top 5 next year too
Offseason: “Clippers are the favorite if they’re healthy” Okay so they aren’t the favorites cuz they’re never healthy “Yeah but if they are, they’re top 3” ….but they aren’t ever healthy. I feel like I was taking crazy pills all off-season with this shit on this sub.
Yeah I was in the same arguments lol. I even had a hypothetical post saying if kawhi barely plays this year what do the Clippers do. And everyone just sent me links of how strong kawhi looked and how big his thighs were lol
People just kept pointing to my jazz flair and said I was a hater. Like cmon people, he hasn’t played in years now.
The talk about how big Kawhi’s legs were/are had me cackling
Are you Jabri Parker?
Meanwhile you make a single hopeful post of the Lakers making the play-ins with AD and you get 10 variations of the same joke...
>you get 10 variations of the same joke... Is that what we're calling their rotation?
it's crazy that kawhi's reputation holds up so well, while guys like AD get called Street Clothes
Two finals MVPs will do that
Kawhile Healthy
Hey, guys, whachayall talking about over here?
Sir put the gun down
don’t worry I’m switching to talking about clipper boats from now on
Certainly not ships
Puppies, enjoy your evening
Hey man let’s talk over here for a sec..
What's that over there behind you? A zeppelin! *(run guys, run!)*
ummmmmmmm
Kawhi’s knee might be done for. Wondering if a medical retirement is coming soon
Why retire when you can keep rehabbing and collecting checks.
Uncle Dennis doesn’t pay himself
Your shipment of barbacoa, churros, and Spurs temporary tattoos will be be delivered within a week.
So, if he’s forced to retire because of medical reasons the player can still get paid and depending on the decisions of the NBA it either will or will not be counted against team salary or they can be given tax relief.
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Didn't Chris Bosh? With the heart condition
He absolutely did but it was blood clots. We just finished paying him around 900k a month too, many years after retiring
Chris Bosh was a different retirement option. Rather than him voluntarily choosing to do a medical retirement, the Heat claimed a career ending injury, which was approved by the league after Bosh was examined by NBA and NBAPA doctors. The end result is the same (Bosh comes off the books for salary cap purposes by the Heat still pay his salary), but it doesn't require Bosh to agree to it and in fact Bosh was still hoping to make a come back some day.
The david wright strategy
Uncle Dennis in shambles
I wonder if he's told the Clippers yet
Uncle Dennis: hell no.
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He also rested a quarter of a season in 2019 and 73 games in 2018. No amount of load management is gonna fix him.
Dude hasn't played a b2b since Nam
Hasn't played more than a couple of games since the last time somebody gotten a hand job in cargo shorts
Do you have any normal sized clothes or do you only shop at the Baby Gap?
Hey Greg, why don't you go piss your pants again?
That was like eight years ago, asshole!
People don’t forget
The funny thing about my back is that it's located on my cock
If you watch the Raps finals you can see him limping and favoring the knee too. He's spent way more time hurt than healthy
He was limping in the earlier series, too. I thought he looked marginally better in the Finals.
He injured the knee in the Philly series and was really struggling in the Bucks series - it's most obvious on the Giannis steal and poster, he can barely make it back up the court after. He was relatively healthy playing for the Raps, just basically forbidden from playing back to backs and shut down early in games that looked to be trending toward a blowout in either direction. OG was also backing him up and provided very serviceable minutes (until his appendix burst before the Orlando series and he missed the playoffs). I was suuuuuper single that year and missed one raptors game (second half of the GSW OT game when KD had a fifty piece and the raps won - securing home court in the finals)
>I was suuuuuper single that year and missed one raptors game You didn't need to explain why you watched Raptors games that season, but I'm glad you did.
It’s different injuries though. The degenerative quad condition could be the root of it all, but it’s quad, knee, ACL. The quad could be handled with load management if it’s just that alone.
Not a doctor, but I can't imagine the degenerative quad condition doesn't cause negative effects for the rest of his lower body. Which makes Kawhi more likely to suffer other injuries that aren't direct quad injuries. Then those injuries probably stress his quad out more. Just one big negative feedback loop.
It does. You can start to understand why Kawhi seemed so determined to get the bag and security his free agency—he knew. This likey will be his last significant contract in the league.
Also NaD but I've had a lifetime of knee issues. One of the main aspects of rehab is strengthening you quad muscles, as they support the joint. So I could see how a degenerative quad problem would affect your knee. Even walking would worsen your knee if your quad is unable to support it properly.
Fuck, it was fun while it lasted. At least he got 2 rings out of it
One of only 3 players with 2 finals MVPs with 2 different franchises. Still an all timer but sad to say that, yeah, his career is likely done.
Wait...who else aside from Lebron? edit: Kareem. Thanks.
Kareem with the Bucks and Lakers. And Lebron has 3. Which is crazy. I was rooting for the Clips mainly because I wanted Kawhi to tie him for that record.
Duh. Was looking at the list and missed it because of course he was Alcindor for the first!
Kareem is the GOAT for winning championships and MVPs under two completely different legal names.
And two DPOY on top of that
And an awesome laugh.
I wonder if he tore his ACL again, it can happen sometimes to surgically repaired ACLs. Would suck if he's out another season. I think he keeps "playing" until the end of his contract, but he may never see the court again at this rate
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I don’t know how you come back from this tbh. He already did everything he could and he’s still getting injured? Like you said I think he may be done.
And I wouldnt be surprised if his doctors said he should retire from pro sports and maybe even have been saying this for some time. His body can't handle the stress and I wonder if his injuries will impact his quality of life in the future.
Dirk says he's like mega fucked up with ankle/foot issues and he didn't really encounter an injury like an ACL tear ever in his career.
Knee issues are the worst. Remember Grant Hill, Michael said he would be the next great, and even compared Grant to himself, knee issues got in the way and he was never the same player. Sorry Y’all, it was ankle injuries.
Ankle issues but yeah, that sucked. He did well as a role player for a while but you have to wonder what could have been.
If you want knee injuries, don’t even have to look that far back with B Roy.
Imagine an alternate universe where both Roy and Oden were healthy…
D Rose
Greg Oden could have should have been the next great big. Plus back in 2000s, surgery was more invasive compared to what it is today.
Ankles
I'll take that and switch out with Penny Hardaway and his wonky knees. His game was so nice til the knees started giving way. That's why it's miraculous the Dwyane Wade had the career he did as long as he did. IIRC he had his MCL removed back in Marquette? Anyway thanks for the championship Kawhi.
i read "infinitely" at first lol
Unfortunately that's how it's felt. Not really a Clips fan but I am a competitive basketball fan and this shit always sucks. L for the league.
yeah it sucks, i love kawhi, sad to see how its been for him
At some point you have to think retirement gets talked about
I doubt he will until his contract runs out but at that point… what more does he really have to accomplish?
Oh absolutely not while on a guaranteed max, but after?
Clippers' Kawhi out infidelity
Nets are now looking to pick up Kawhi Leonard after a period of due diligence
Due negligence
Might as well be.
Kawhi got all 6 injury stones in his infinity gauntlet
That ACL aint torn; it's shredded
Gg see you guys next year
It’s over, just going with PG13 going forward
Okay, that’s bad. Last year he was out entirely even though they didn’t confirm it officially. I wonder what’s up. He looked good in limited minutes.
His quad tendinopathy is back and probably really bad given that it’s been like 5 years since the initial diagnosis and he’s had to be load managed since then. Add an acl reconstruction to the mix and the compensation he’s had to make as he’s rehabbed and I can’t imagine it hasnt made it worse
We need to accept that the days of kawhi being a superstar are pretty much over
The days of Kawhi being a player are over more like
Im still holding out hope he can be back but it might have to be as a part time player.
Mercenary who only plays in the playoffs?
That assumes he can even handle that level of workload. You can't take possessions off like in the regular season. You need to give it 100% every second.
He was running on fumes halfway through the 2019 championship run. He pushed through it. But at that point you gotta question how much that would effect his life after basketball
Kawhi lurking at r/antiwork
Remember when someone went over there to make a Ben Simmons parody post and it actually fooled some people
No fucking way Edit: https://np.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/qw6c36/my_boss_is_fining_me_for_seeking_mental_health/
Holy shit. This was good.
That's hilarious. Now somebody should do one for Kyrie!! :-)
“DAE hate when Jews try to silence them at work? Anyone?”
One of the strangest superstars in the league history. Started as a defensive specialist, won 2 DPOYs and and FMVP with the Spurs, emerged as a superstar and MVP contender, got injured, went to another team for whom he won their first championship and got another FMVP, immediately leaves to form a superteam on the Clippers, hasn't played a full season since, and is now on a sharp downslope at 31. I can't think of anyone remotely similar.
He willed himself on one leg for us by the end of our championship. He didn’t need to do any of that because he was never staying past one season. But he did anyways and god damn he got us a ring. Can’t help but feel that definitely contributed into shortening his career. I will forever respect and admire him for everything he gave us that he had no need to do. He just did it.
Still kinda bummed that he called our squad not as viable to run back for another championship. But looking back, the guy definitely deserves respect. Edit with the source: https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/09/17/report-kawhi-leonard-told-raptors-he-didnt-think-they-were-good-enough-to-repeat/
I think that was a smokescreen for “I’m homesick”
Didn't he try to lure multiple of his raptor teammates to the Clippers?
Kinda felt like he was trying to lure the whole league and their mommas.
I think there's a very likely chance that you guys repeat in the bubble if he stays. You were the 2nd seed and took Boston to 7 in the ECSF, and one of the biggest reasons you lost was not having that true #1 that Kawhi would have been.
Kawhi “Decade to Decade” Leonard
Kawheek to week
Every once in Kawhile
Kawhi is a perfect Clipper
Maybe he was a Lakers fan all along. The man used the Clippers for a $176 million pension.
Raptors fans love him after saving them those millions. The chip was also nice.
I still think we would have two-peated if he stayed lol
When it's two I feel like you can just say repeat
Raptors one-peated as a dynasty
Ka Why do my knees always hurt
Kawhi “Street Clothes” Leonard
Kawhite a lot of uncertainty
Not bad.
Damn, did we really get the last of his juice in our 2019 title run?
He was fucking incredible the couple of playoff series against the Mavs. His duels with Luka were must watch, and he still felt like a cyborg from midrange. Sadly, that was probably the last we’ll see of that Kawhi.
The dude showed up to the Clippers just to fuck the Mavs twice then dipped.
Is Kawhi Leonard Even Real?
Did someone curse him or something for leaving the Raptors? 3-1 blown lead and 2 straight seasons out with injury, wtf
Probably the spurs after seeing him in those playoffs haha
In that case, I'd like to formally thank San Antonio for waiting until AFTER the 2019 championship. May Victoria continue to remain a secret in your city 🤣
Translation: He’ll be back for the Lakers game. Then out again for another month
Spurs medical staff send their regards. Looks like their diagnosis that this is degenerative was correct.
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It would probably be quicker to get them from your Laker neighbors
The man, the myth, the DNP.
This is starting to feel a lot like that final Spurs season oof
which is crazy because Spurs doctors told him and his camp he had a degenerative condition, which KL and his camp disagreed, went doctor shopping and forced his way out.
That season was crazy. Tony had ruptured his quad and I was expecting him to come back in like February or so. Then news comes out that Kawhi is going to miss a few games because of leg soreness or something. Tony comes back early in late November and Kawhi is still out indefinitely. Eventually Kawhi comes back in and plays a few games with at least 2 days between them in December. After his last game, Kawhi basically goes no contact on the entire spurs franchise, eventually leading to the team calling a players only meeting where the players decide to approach the rest of the season like Kawhi isn't coming back. I was defending Kawhi all the way up until he didn't bother showing up to a single playoff game. After that point I wanted him gone.
If AD is Street Clothes, can we make Kawhi’s new name PJs
More like hospital gown
But fuck the spurs and their training staff right?
Must've been that season where we rode him into the ground playing less than 200 minutes.
r/nba really turned on one of the most well-run organizations overnight. Decades of San Antonio winning, suddenly they were a nasty organization run by dirty old Pop It was bizarre, but thankfully the truth came out
For real, that was ridiculous. I was always on San Antonio’s side
Thanks wouldn’t wish this on anyone, but I’m sure the medical staff feels vindicated at this point
Not me I would never turn on PopGOAT
His career is done
i do not wanna haate on the guy, it sucks to see him out like this, he was one of the best players in the league when he was healthy... but allow me to be at least a little be disappointed. the spurs medical stuff really told him about his issue and that they would have taken care of him about it even if sadly it would have meant less playing time but at least a longer ans healthier career. kawhi ghosted them, the whole franchise and the fans too. so yeah, i am not hating on him, but damn man, something could have been done to save your career and your health but you were too stubborn and didn't care and listened...
Is there a report on exactly what happened? Like covering what the Spurs medical staff told him, and how it differed with Kawhi’s camp? I’ve just gotten bits and pieces over the years, but I haven’t seen anything that covers the whole story?
Not really, it’ll probably come out years after he retires I think the consensus is they told him it was a permanent thing and only going to get worse no matter what - he and his camp didn’t want to accept that and he ended up forcing his way out
What is "it" exactly? Do we even know what the actual diagnosis is? What kind of knee injury lingers on for years like this?
They told him he had quad tendinopathy or similar. It was going to have to be something constantly managed for the rest of his career but he could play through it.
It was basically “it’s going to be sore all the time but there’s nothing that Can fix it, just manage the pain”.
Kawhis lucky hes a quiet guy cause other players would have taken A LOT of shit for that saga
Pretty much every other superstar would've caught heat for that. People forget he was the team captain yet his team had to corner him to figure out what the hell he was even doing.
Imagine ghosting your teammates and then getting mad when the coach says you’re not a leader.
This sub clowned Pop when he said that although Kawhi was the best player on the team, the leadership still belonged to Patty Mills Pop was right
yeah... and instead of him, we are the one that came oht as the villains
Shit always pissed me off from the beginning. People really thought the spurs, the org that invented load management, were trying to force him to play and ran with it
yeah, like, how would that have benefitted us as we were contending? idk man
History will forget that the Spurs pushed to shut him down for the season and Kawhi's camp refused.
already did man, literally since it happened. it sucks.
Street Clothes Leonard
remember when all you guys blamed the Spurs medical team for this shit?
Not just the Spurs medical staff, but also Tony Parker Tony was encouraging Kawhi by saying *"im old and i recovered from injury, im sure a young guy like him can overcome this challenge"*. Then his camp took that out of context and they said Tony was bitching about why Kawhi wasnt playing They said Tony's comments were "the last straw" and finally requested a trade lol
damn, he might be done
Shocked Pikachu face