Ex-Clippers staffer sues, says he was fired over Kawhi concerns

A former LA Clippers power and conditioning coach who says he was employed in 2019 as a part of a years-long marketing campaign to recruit Kawhi Leonard has sued the group and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, alleging wrongful termination partly for elevating issues in regards to the administration of Leonard’s well being and accidents.

The lawsuit, a replica of which was obtained by ESPN, was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County by attorneys representing Randy Shelton, who joined the Clippers on July 1, 2019, as a power and conditioning coach after serving in the same position at San Diego State, the place he labored with Leonard earlier than he joined the San Antonio Spurs within the 2011 NBA draft.

Shelton mentioned he was a part of a multiyear effort to recruit Leonard that “leapt properly past the bounds of the NBA structure” with respect to potential tampering violations.

He’s looking for “vital” however unspecified damages at trial, his attorneys instructed ESPN.

The Clippers issued an announcement denying the allegations.

“Mr. Shelton’s claims have been investigated and located to be with out advantage. We honored Mr. Shelton’s employment contract and paid him in full,” the group mentioned. “This lawsuit is a belated try to shake down the Clippers based mostly on accusations that Mr. Shelton ought to know are false.”

Via a spokesperson, the NBA mentioned it was unaware of the lawsuit.

Within the lawsuit, Shelton mentioned the Clippers first contacted him in 2017 after Leonard, who was then below contract with the Spurs, suffered a extreme ankle damage in Recreation 1 of the 2017 Western Convention finals in opposition to the Golden State Warriors.

That damage ended Leonard’s postseason, and he missed the primary 27 video games of the following season with a proper quadriceps damage. Leonard’s damage and subsequent rehab created a rift with the Spurs, main him to hunt a second opinion exterior of the group.

Starting in 2017, whereas Leonard remained below contract with the Spurs, Shelton mentioned a Clippers government contacted him to hunt “non-public well being info” about Leonard and expressed the necessity for “discretion.” The 2 sides spoke roughly 15 occasions on the telephone and had at the very least seven conferences, in line with the lawsuit, because the Clippers sought to study extra about Leonard’s contractual obligations with the Spurs and his medical scenario.

In June 2018, Spurs president RC Buford acknowledged that the group was prepared to “discover all of our choices” as Leonard had grown disgruntled with the franchise.

The Clippers have been one of many groups that sought to accumulate Leonard, however in the end he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in July 2018 and introduced the franchise its first title in 2019. Leonard grew to become an unrestricted free agent after that season.

In his conversations, Shelton mentioned the Clippers government “mentioned bringing Shelton into the Clippers’ group as a power and conditioning coach, given the private relationship and belief that Leonard had in Shelton.”

After Leonard left San Diego State, Shelton mentioned he was employed by Leonard to assist him put together for the NBA and that they maintained a relationship by way of 2017 as Leonard’s stardom rose with the Spurs, the place he gained a title in 2014, incomes Finals MVP honors.

Shelton alleges that the Clippers’ recruiting efforts have been in “disregard for the NBA’s prohibitions on tampering.” Article 35 of the NBA’s structure prohibits groups from “immediately or not directly” trying to entice gamers below contract with one group to hitch a unique group.

Shelton mentioned he was “promised a shiny future with the Clippers” and that on the time he “had a thriving enterprise in San Diego” and a “revered place with San Diego State.”

Clippers personnel attended a lot of Leonard’s video games in Toronto through the 2018-19 season, and the group was fined $50,000 by the NBA in Might 2019 for then-Clippers coach Doc Rivers’ public feedback that in contrast Leonard to Michael Jordan.

After the Clippers signed Leonard in July 2019, Frank mentioned throughout an introductory information convention, “We by no means had a dialog with Kawhi or with any of his folks. We at all times felt by doing it out in entrance that we have been being very, very clear. We all know the principles. We observe the principles. With how [Clippers owner Steve Ballmer] does enterprise, his integrity is No. 1. We’re at all times going to be above the road.”

However on or round February 2019, Shelton mentioned he met in San Diego with Frank, who “personally assured” him that he would have a job on the group’s power and conditioning employees if Leonard joined the Clippers. Shelton mentioned he met with the Clippers once more through the Raptors’ playoff run relating to Leonard’s willingness to hitch the group.

The Clippers employed Shelton in July 2019. Quickly after becoming a member of the group, Shelton mentioned his position was diminished, that he was excluded from conferences and that details about Leonard’s well being was withheld from him.

Leonard suffered an ACL tear in his proper knee within the second spherical of the 2021 playoffs, underwent surgical procedure in July 2021 and sat out the 2021-22 NBA season.

Shelton mentioned the restoration goal for Leonard, who “has suffered quite a few accidents beforehand,” ought to have been 730 days, however the Clippers thought-about that timeline “unacceptable.”

He mentioned that in an August 2022 assembly with members of the Clippers’ medical group, it was agreed that the group would apply load administration ideas for Leonard, limit him from enjoying in back-to-backs and restrict his minutes as he recovered.

Leonard returned to motion in October 2022, 16 months after the damage, however complained of swelling and irritation after two video games. Leonard missed 12 straight video games, returning lower than a month later. Then, Shelton mentioned, Leonard suffered two ruptured ligaments in his proper ankle on Nov. 21, 2022, costing him six extra video games early within the season.

Later that season, Leonard tore his proper meniscus in a playoff collection in opposition to the Phoenix Suns. After that damage, Shelton mentioned he wrote a criticism to Frank about his diminished position and the way the group had managed Leonard’s well being. In it, he mentioned he famous that the “mishandling of Kawhi Leonard’s damage and return-to-play protocol has been mind-blowing” and that “the disregard for his restoration course of is unacceptable.” Shelton additionally mentioned the Clippers had positioned extra of an emphasis on Leonard’s productiveness than his restoration.

The next day, Frank responded, stating, “We take your issues very critically and can promptly transfer ahead with an investigation.”

Shelton mentioned his allegations have been discovered to be unsubstantiated and that Frank terminated him with out trigger in July 2023. He mentioned he was not compensated for wages owed, together with bills and reimbursements.

“We hope that our shopper’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 remedy for the careers and lives afterwards,” John David, one in every of Shelton’s attorneys, wrote in an announcement to ESPN.

Shelton’s attorneys additionally mentioned their shopper would cooperate with any investigation into the Clippers’ conduct.

Final season, Leonard performed in 68 regular-season video games — his most since 2016-17 — and averaged 23.7 factors, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals whereas incomes his sixth All-Star nod.

However his well being has remained a problem.

Leonard has missed 179 of a doable 435 video games since becoming a member of the Clippers in 2019, and he stays sidelined indefinitely to begin this season whereas rehabbing irritation in his proper knee.