The Clippers group is at present preventing a lawsuit from one among their former staffers known as Randy Shelton, who was employed again in 2019 as a power and conditioning coach that would preserve Kawhi Leonard in test. The ex-employee ensures that he was fired after questioning how the group 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 and 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 advised ESPN, “We’re reviewing the court docket filings on this matter.”
Breaking: A former LA Clippers power and conditioning coach has sued the group, alleging wrongful termination partially for elevating issues in regards to the administration of Kawhi Leonard’s well being and accidents, in line with a duplicate of the lawsuit obtained by ESPN. https://t.co/UVoGEipRkZ
— ESPN (@espn) October 24, 2024
As advised by Shelton, he wrote a grievance to group president Lawrence Frank about the best way they had been managing Kawhi’s situation, proper after the participant tore his proper meniscus in a playoff sequence in opposition to the Phoenix Suns. The subsequent day, the manager responded by stating, “We take your issues very severely and can promptly transfer ahead with an investigation.”
The accuser defined that in his grievance, 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.”
Based on 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 consumer’s lawsuit will function a wakeup name to the Clippers group that their gamers should 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 among Shelton’s attorneys.
After being chased by many NBA groups in 2019, Kawhi Revealed that he picked the Clippers to ‘assist attempt 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. Nonetheless, over the previous decade, the membership has been decided to return out of their underdog shell, spend money on All-Star calibre gamers, and even compete for the NBA title. This is the reason Kawhi Leonard first signed for the group in 2019.
Regardless that they’re but to win a championship, Kawhi and his teammates took the L.A. squad all the best way 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 stunning choice to play for the Clippers after his success in Toronto.
Based on this interview, the famous person wished to construct a legacy for a group that lacked one.“Throughout his free company, in 2019, Leonard was rumored to be a Lakers goal earlier than finally choosing the opposite Staples Heart locker room. ‘I simply wished to go to a franchise the place I may attempt to assist construct a legacy,’ he advised me this spring,” Schube wrote, because it was well-known that many groups wished his abilities.
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] offered the chance of enjoying with [Paul George], it was straightforward, it was a sure. I mentioned let’s get it going,” Leonard shared again within the day.
