The Clippers group is presently preventing a lawsuit from one in every of their former staffers known as Randy Shelton, who was employed again in 2019 as a energy and conditioning coach that would maintain Kawhi Leonard in verify. The ex-employee ensures that he was fired after questioning how the crew was dealing with the star’s well being.
The Los Angeles entrance workplace resolved by issuing a press release denying the allegations. “Mr. Shelton’s claims had been investigated and located to be with out advantage. We honored Mr. Shelton’s employment contract and paid him in full,” the membership responded. “This lawsuit is a belated try to shake down the Clippers primarily based on accusations that Mr. Shelton ought to know are false.”
As drama ensued and surfaced on social media, an NBA spokesperson referred to the matter and instructed ESPN, “We’re reviewing the court docket filings on this matter.”
Breaking: A former LA Clippers energy and conditioning coach has sued the crew, alleging wrongful termination partly for elevating issues in regards to the administration of Kawhi Leonard’s well being and accidents, in keeping with a duplicate of the lawsuit obtained by ESPN. https://t.co/UVoGEipRkZ
— ESPN (@espn) October 24, 2024
As instructed by Shelton, he wrote a criticism to crew president Lawrence Frank about the way in which they had been managing Kawhi’s situation, proper after the participant tore his proper meniscus in a playoff sequence towards the Phoenix Suns. The subsequent day, the manager responded by stating, “We take your issues very significantly and can promptly transfer ahead with an investigation.”
The accuser defined that in his criticism, he defined how the “mishandling of Kawhi Leonard’s harm and return-to-play protocol has been mind-blowing” and that “the disregard for his restoration course of is unacceptable.”
In response to the previous staffer, he assured his allegations had been discovered to be unsubstantiated and that Frank fired him with out trigger in July 2023, with out compensation or reimbursements.
“We hope that our shopper’s lawsuit will function a wakeup name to the Clippers group that their gamers usually are not simply greenback values however are people requiring correct — and never hastened — well being and restoration therapy for the careers and lives afterwards,” mentioned John David, who served as one in every of Shelton’s attorneys.
After being chased by many NBA groups in 2019, Kawhi Revealed that he picked the Clippers to ‘assist try to construct a legacy’ in Los Angeles
It’s no secret that the Clippers franchise has been within the shadow of their metropolis rivals for many of their historical past. Nevertheless, over the previous decade, the membership has been decided to come back out of their underdog shell, spend money on All-Star calibre gamers, and even compete for the NBA title. Because of this Kawhi Leonard first signed for the crew in 2019.
Although they’re but to win a championship, Kawhi and his teammates took the L.A. squad all the way in which to the Western Convention Finals simply 4 years in the past.In a current GQ article, written by Sam Schube, the journalist revealed that the 33-year-old defined to him why he had made the shocking choice to play for the Clippers after his success in Toronto.
In response to this interview, the celebrity needed to construct a legacy for a crew that lacked one.“Throughout his free company, in 2019, Leonard was rumored to be a Lakers goal earlier than in the end choosing the opposite Staples Heart locker room. ‘I simply needed to go to a franchise the place I might attempt to assist construct a legacy,’ he instructed me this spring,” Schube wrote, because it was well-known that many groups needed his skills.
Sources revealed that the Lakers had been one of many groups seeking to commerce for him 5 years in the past. “I used to be very shut. Actual shut. However when [the Clippers] introduced the chance of taking part in with [Paul George], it was straightforward, it was a sure. I mentioned let’s get it going,” Leonard shared again within the day.
