Trainer claims Clippers fired him over Kawhi Leonard health concerns
Apr 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) warms up before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Clippers during game three of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
A former Los Angeles Clippers trainer claimed in a new lawsuit that the team fired him for raising concerns about the organization’s handling of Kawhi Leonard’s injuries.
Randy Shelton, who worked for the Clippers as a strength and conditioning coach from 2019 to 2023, filed the suit Thursday in Los Angeles County. According to Ramona Shelburne and Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Shelton alleged that he was wrongfully terminated by the Clippers after arguing that the team was mishandling knee and ankle injuries Leonard suffered during the 2022-23 season. The suit also suggests that Shelton, who had previously served as a strength coach with San Diego State when Leonard played there, was lured to the Clippers in a bid to entice Leonard to sign there, only to be marginalized once Leonard did join the team.
In a statement, the Clippers denied the allegations, stating that Shelton’s claims “were investigated and found to be without merit.” The organization maintained that it honored the terms of Shelton’s contract and paid it in full.
Shelton claims in the lawsuit that the Clippers first reached out to him in 2017, when Leonard was still with the San Antonio Spurs and had suffered a significant ankle injury. He also claims that an unnamed Clippers executive encouraged him to seek out “private health information” about Leonard, and to do so discreetly.
Shelton further suggests that the Clippers diminished his role significantly after Leonard signed with the team in 2019. He alleged that he urged the Clippers to hold Leonard out for two years after suffering an ACL tear in 2021, but that the organization overruled his recommendations. Shelton allegedly wrote a letter to Clippers president Lawrence Frank late in the 2022-23 season expressing concerns about “mishandling of Kawhi Leonard’s injury and return-to-play protocol,” and was assured by Frank that his complaints would be investigated. Shelton claims in the suit that nothing came of the investigation, and that he was fired without cause in July 2023.
If there is any merit to Shelton’s allegations, it would certainly raise questions about their handling of Leonard, as well as about whether they may have been guilty of tampering before signing Leonard in the first place. Then-Clippers coach Doc Rivers was fined for tampering in 2019 when he effusively compared Leonard to Michael Jordan during a TV interview while Leonard was still with the Toronto Raptors.
Leonard is on the shelf for the Clippers to start the season due to a recurrence of his knee issues, with reports suggesting it will be several weeks before he is ready to play.