As more and more information comes out about what went on between Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs this past season, it’s easy to understand why the relationship between the two sides has seemingly deteriorated beyond the point of repair. However, Leonard’s camp wants us to know that some of the rumors and reports swirling around are inaccurate.
ESPN’s Michael C. Wright dropped a major bombshell on the “Back to Back” podcast this week when he said Leonard’s people literally hid the star forward from the Spurs at one point when the team’s brass went to New York City to check on how Leonard’s rehab was going.
ESPN Spurs reporter @mikecwright bottled up a lot of wild Kawhi/Spurs stories. But he did share this one anecdote on @back2backpod:
The time Kawhi’s people tried to hide Kawhi from Spurs staffers in NYC
Full episode here: https://t.co/7sJsB8wAN4 pic.twitter.com/aVsrisQbab
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) July 5, 2018
“There was a point during his rehab process in New York that some of the Spurs’ brass went out to see him in New York,” Wright said. “As soon as those guys arrived to the building, Kawhi’s people grabbed him and sequestered him to another part of the building so the Spurs’ people could even see him.”
On Friday morning, a source close to Leonard told Chris Broussard of FOX Sports that the report is a fabrication.
A person close to Kawhi Leonard adamantly denies story that he was hidden from Spurs brass in New York. Calls it “BS.”
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 6, 2018
We’ll probably never know which side is telling the truth, but Wright’s report would help explain why Spurs coach Gregg Popovich responded to questions about Leonard’s injury the way he did back in April. There was clearly a major divide throughout the season regarding Leonard’s quad, which for some reason never seemed to properly heal.
