San Antonio Spurs players, coaches and fans may be frustrated that Kawhi Leonard still has yet to return after missing so much time this season, but that apparently does not mean the star forward has been ignoring the wishes of the team while rehabbing from a quad injury.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports that while there is “frustration” over Leonard’s lingering injury, the 26-year-old’s personal medical staff and the Spurs’ medical staff agreed to the current rehab program Leonard is adhering to.
Video Essay on Kawhi Leonard and why the San Antonio Spurs star remains sidelined: pic.twitter.com/KAT0UWBXtI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 16, 2018
“There’s frustration on both sides about his fitness to play, yet league sources tell me his doctors and the Spurs’ medical staff agreed to his current rehab program in New York,” Charania said Monday. “Both sides collaborated over any decision with his injured right quad — not a player gone rogue.”
If that is truly the case, it seems odd that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich recently directed any questions about Leonard’s injury to “his group.” That would imply that Leonard’s personal doctors are making all the decisions on their own, which Charania says is not happening.
Of course, Popovich could be frustrated with both Leonard’s doctors and the team’s, especially since Tony Parker suffered a more severe quad injury a year ago and returned in a much more timely fashion. For what it’s worth, there are at least some people who believe Leonard is handling the situation the right way.
