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2024 USAB Men’s Training Camp
LAS VEGAS — On Tuesday, Kawhi Leonard sounded like a man expecting to play for the USA against Canada Wednesday night,
then board the plane to Abu Dhabi and eventually Paris with USA Basketball.
“I’ll be good tomorrow,” Leonard said the day before the USA showed promise in its first game, beating Canada. “Everything’s been good so far, [his troublesome right knee] has been in a neutral state and hopefully it stays that way.”
The next morning, USA Basketball released a statement that Leonard had withdrawn from the team.
Leonard’s knee issue was known. He missed the final eight games of the regular season with right knee inflammation (after playing in 68 games during the season and making All-NBA second team). He tried to come back in the playoffs but missed the final three games of the Clippers’ series loss to the Mavericks. In Las Vegas, he said that his recovery took a turn for the better in the last couple of weeks before USA training camp, so he came out to play.
When asked about what changed, USA Basketball’s managing director Grant Hill gave a rambling answer, but one thing was clear — this wasn’t Leonard’s idea, even if he eventually acquiesced to it.
“We just felt that we had to pivot. Not to get into the particulars, in terms of what went into the decision, but we just felt it was in our best interest, but also in the Clippers’ and Kawhi’s best interest, to move into a different direction,” Hill said before Wednesday’s exhibition. “We tried. I think we all tried and we gave it a valiant effort, and unfortunately, we have to move forward.”
Leonard seemed somewhat limited in the parts of scrimmages and this is not an 82-game season where some load management for a star can be appropriate. While it’s abrupt, Hill felt he had to make the call.
Leonard spoke to the team before leaving and told them to win gold.
“Kawhi gave it everything he had when he was preparing and those last few days of camp, Curry said, “And there was conversation mutually between USAB leadership and Kawhi and his team just to make sure you set up for success and I mean, obviously there are tough decisions…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/curry-lebron-grant-hill-discuss-160709246.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-11 16:07:09
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