vaff87 wrote:Chinook wrote:jacoby1us wrote:Either way fans from SA will find a way to say it is Leonard's fault. How about it was a collective fault on all parties. Geez, no one or organization is perfect.
First, no one thinks Green's groin tear is Leonard's fault. Second, what happened with Leonard is his fault. Third, acting like both parties have to have similar responsibility is very shallow thinking. Someone can just be wrong, and in this case, that person is Kawhi. There's a reason why he has to whip out a million different little things that justify leaving SA but still can't justify how he did it.
If he felt the Spurs broke his trust, that's not necessarily his "fault". The Spurs said he was cleared to play, he was still in pain, but because the Spurs publicly said he was cleared to play, he looked like the bad guy. I wouldn't be happy about that either.
The Spurs have to announce whether he's cleared to play. If their docs don't find anything wrong, they can't and shouldn't pretend like there is. They let Leonard seek as many opinions as he wanted to (on their dime), and they turned over his rehab months before the season even began. At that point, nothing that happened medically with Kawhi was their doing. Leonard looked like the bad guy because he WAS the bad guy, at least to the extent that he didn't think he needed to keep anyone informed about what was going on.
The Spurs medical staff "broke his trust", therefore, it's fine that he froze teammates out, avoided the media/fans and moved to a different city. None of those things are okay. Kawhi messed up, and that's why he had to leak so many different reasons (the injury just being one of those things -- and not even the one he's currently using) rather than just being able to stick with a story.
It used to be that the practices were too hard. Then it was that his people weren't given special status. Then it was the shoe deal. Then it was the "misdiagnosis". Then it was Pop talking about a "group". Then it was Parker. Then it was the Spurs being too controlling (months into a rehab process in which PATFO had zero control). Then it was PATFO apparently controlling endorsements. Then it was the Spurs not extending Leonard way back when so they could bring in Aldridge.
I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few twists and turns in the saga, but Kawhi's grievances with PATFO have been a moving target for almost a year at this point. I get that you're hoping for the best for Kawhi and all that. But rewriting history to justify what he did isn't the way to get there. You're just going to be disappointed when you find out Kawhi's Kawhi no matter where he goes. Maybe he'll try to force it for a while. Hell, I hope he does at least enough to get SA that 21st pick. But almost no player ever forces himself out of a decent situation and ends up being a model citizen for the rest of his career.