L.A. Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was noticeably absent from the final three games of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns this week after having suffered what was later revealed to be a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Leonard scored 31 points over 39 minutes of playing time in Game 2 of the series on April 16 but was shut down after team medical staff discovered the knee injury. The Suns would go on to win the series in five games.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith commented about Leonard’s absence on First Take on Wednesday following the Clippers’ elimination, saying among other points that because Leonard finished Game 2 and didn’t appear injured walking off the court, it was surprising to learn later that Kawhi was actually hurt. Smith said Kawhi is never healthy when it counts and that the player’s personal medical team influences when Leonard actually suits up for games.
FOX Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb said Stephen A. danced around what he actually wanted to say.
“He thinks the guy ain’t hurt, that he could play. He thinks he’s a pussy,” Gottlieb said on his In the Bonus podcast. “That’s what he thinks.”
Doug said this wasn’t a case of Smith giving his honest take on the story.
“This is performance art,” he said. “Going on and making yourself the story instead of the actual story which is: I can’t believe the Clippers’ two best players are hurt again. That’s the story. There is no other story.”
“If he had this exact same presentation and message on a regional sports network, no one would ever watch,” Gottlieb later added. “He benefits from the fact that he’s on ESPN.”
Doug felt like Stephen A. went on such a tangent that he didn’t really make a valid point.
“He said nothing except saying something f–king stupid, which he basically alludes to he doesn’t think he’s hurt, he thinks the medical team that Kawhi has doesn’t do a good job, and he’s really healthy and they’re telling him not to play,” he said. “And because he didn’t see him get hurt, how can he believe that he’s hurt? I mean that’s all dumb, dumb shit.”
