The Los Angeles Clippers had no problem with Kawhi Leonard playing for the U.S. in the Paris Olympics this summer and wanted him to remain on the team, general manager Lawrence Frank said Monday.
USA Basketball removed Leonard — whose NBA season was disrupted at the end because of a knee problem — from its roster last week after a four-day, four-practice training camp and replaced him with the Boston Celtics' Derrick White. USA Basketball said that it and the Clippers determined that Leonard not playing this summer was in his best interest.
“It was USAB's call, and I was, quite frankly, very disappointed with the decision,” Frank told reporters in Las Vegas. “Kawhi wanted to play. We wanted him to play.”
Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games this past season with right knee inflammation, though he said last week that he felt fine and the knee was doing well. But USA Basketball — which has Clippers coach Tyronn Lue as an assistant on head coach Steve Kerr's staff — felt differently.
Leonard is a two-time NBA champion, six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA player, but injury issues have been a recurring theme over the past seven seasons. USA Basketball had monitored him going into camp and USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill even watched a workout earlier this summer to check on Leonard's health.
“I was there the first two practices. He looked very good, was a full participant in everything that they did," Frank said. "I wasn’t there for the third practice, where ultimately, that was the point where they decided to go in a different direction. I expressed then, I really wished that they would have given Kawhi more time.”
The U.S. has been without three-time gold medalist Kevin Durant since it convened in Las Vegas for camp earlier this month. Durant is with the team but did not play in either of its first two exhibitions — a win over Canada on July 10 and a win over Australia on Monday.
If a player on the 12-man roster is hurt during the Olympics, there's no replacement option. That's a major factor weighing on teams as they finalize their rosters before play starts in France later this month.
“I understand USAB’s perspective that they have to look at what they feel is in the best interest of the team, despite what I think," Frank said. “They’re also managing some other players who are dealing with injuries, so, I understand that they have to do what’s best. ... You have to move forward. We support USAB. Desperately want to see them win the gold medal. I know that’s how Kawhi feels, too.”
