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LAS VEGAS — A lot of people were surprised to see Kawhi Leonard commit to Team USA for the Summer Olympics following his inability to finish the Los Angeles Clippers’ season, so no one seems truly surprised by his decision to pull out and focus on the upcoming NBA season.
The media was only allowed to see but so much of the scrimmages between the Olympic team and the Select Team, but Leonard wasn’t out there, which sparked a little bit of concern. Clippers front office officials were in attendance for the early workouts, and it’s likely they influenced the decision for Leonard to withdraw.
“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas. He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris,” USA Basketball said in a statement.
All of this is heightened because of Leonard’s injury history, but the visuals were just a small sample. Team USA assistant coach and Clippers head coach Ty Lue seemed to head things off by saying it was good for Leonard to get himself into playing shape by being on the team compared to doing it in training camp.
Kawhi Leonard will not be participating with Team USA in Paris. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
But that was just a misdirection, even after Leonard sounded optimistic following practice Tuesday, with an exhibition game against Canada looming Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
“Yeah, I think I will suit up tomorrow,” Leonard said Tuesday. “Everything has been good so far. It’s been at a neutral state and hopefully it stays that way.”
Apparently it wasn’t, and he’ll be replaced by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White, making it three Celtic members who played deep into June during their run to the NBA title. For Leonard, it appears to be yet another setback in a period full of them since becoming a Clipper in 2019.
He didn’t finish the 2021 playoffs, suffering a torn ACL during the second round —…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/team-usa-camp-kawhi-leonard-decision-not-surprising-bam-adebayo-still-irked-about-dpoy-185241692.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-10 18:52:41
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