Tony Parker's injury comments was "the last straw" for Kawhi
Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich
There was a lot that led to the Spurs’ deteriorating relationship with Kawhi Leonard over the course of last season. Much of it had to do directly with discrepancies between his camp and the team’s doctors about the nature and severity of his injury, along with a timeline for recovery.
The Spurs’ grew increasingly uneasy about Kawhi’s long rehabilitation process, with coach Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, Danny Green, and others making comments in the media expressing their frustration and confusion and admitting the toll it had taken on the locker room.
Kawhi Leonard seems to have a lot of points of contention with the San Antonio Spurs, and Tony Parker apparently didn’t help matters any.
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Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Leonard, who met with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in San Diego, remains “irate” about the public comments that Parker made about his quad injury. Leonard allegedly feels that Parker’s remarks were not supportive of him. The report also cites the Spurs’ supposed mishandling of the injury and Popovich’s own comments on the matter as issues that also drew Leonard’s ire.
Parker was Kawhi's teammate for his entire career, and it seems he wasn't buying so much into the seriousness of Leonard's injury which happened in March. He also continued to compare his injury to Kawhi's. Parker’s comments definitely seemed odd at the time. Now it seems that they may have also helped push Leonard over the edge in wanting out of San Antonio.
“The last straw for him, I was told, was when Parker made those comments about how ‘my quad injury was a hundred times worse, and if you remember, shortly after, Kawhi Leonard left San Antonio, and he didn’t want to be a part of that media glare there and did not come back until the season was over with.”
Kawhi requested a trade earlier this month, and there were several reports that the relationship had become irreversible. The Spurs are still hoping that they can figure things out with Leonard in order for him to remain in San Antonio
