Steve Ballmer, Clippers should force Kawhi Leonard to retire, says Stephen A. Smith
It has just been revealed that Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee. The two-time NBA champion has been sidelined since Game 3 of the first round series against the Suns.
Since joining the Clippers in 2019, Leonard played 161 of 338 regular season games for the team. He missed the entire last season.
Kawhi is currently on a 4-year, $176 million contract and two more years left on it. Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith thinks that the time has come for Leonard, 31, to retire due to his history with injuries.
“Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers should force Kawhi Leonard to retire,” Smith said on First Take. “I’m done. He needs to go home. It’s over. I’m not in any way questioning the legitimacy of Kawhi Leonard’s injury. A matter of fact, I’m fully embracing it.
“I’ve heard very, very alarming stories about his health. You see people talking about he’s walking around limping all the time. He is not a healthy individual. I’m not questioning his heart, I’m not questioning his courage, I’m not questioning any of that…
“He’s the absolute worst superstar you could have on your team. He’s barely ever there and on top of that he does nothing to market or promote your franchise… to me it should be the end. I say that because I called some league officials this morning and I wanted to know specifically what can you do to get rid of Kawhi Leonard and make sure he gets his money.
“He got insurance policy. You could carve it out through the years, make sure he gets every penny, just give him his money and go. Because you can’t rely on him. You go to move on. If you’re the Clippers, you got to move on.”
This season Leonard averaged 23.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 33.6 minutes over 52 games.
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