It was the U.S. team’s decision to send Kawhi Leonard home ahead of the Paris Olympics, executive director Grant Hill told reporters on Wednesday.
The Celtics’ Derrick White took over for Leonard, who had been on and off the court for years with knee injuries.
“We just felt like we had to change direction. I won’t go into the details of how we arrived at the decision, but we just felt like it was in the best interest of us and the Clippers and Kawhi to go in a different direction,” Hill said. According to ESPN:“We tried. I think everybody tried and everybody tried hard. Unfortunately, we have to move on.”
Leonard missed the Clippers’ final three games of the first round of the playoffs against the Mavericks and their final eight games of the regular season because of inflammation in his right knee.
He showed up to U.S. National Team training camp in Las Vegas with just two weeks of practice and appeared to be walking with a slight limp, Bontemps said.
“I know what it’s like to want to do something and your body just isn’t in shape,” Hill said of Leonard. “I’ve been through that myself, so I commend him for coming here and making the sacrifices and giving up his summer and being willing to represent his country and play for our program … even though it didn’t work out in the end.”
Hill said the Clippers “ [the] “The Conversation” marks the end of Leonard’s experience with the Olympic team.
“Obviously, it’s bittersweet, but we’re excited to have Derrick White join our team,” Hill said.
Leonard’s departure from the U.S. national team is just the latest injury setback in the career of the six-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion.
Leonard tore his ACL in the second round of the 2021 playoffs against the Jazz and will miss the entire 2021-22 season.
In 2023, he tore his meniscus in the first-round series against the Clippers and Suns and missed the final three games.
He played in just nine games for Spurs in 2017-18 due to a lingering quadriceps injury.
