{"id":102989,"date":"2024-10-25T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=102989"},"modified":"2024-10-25T06:58:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T10:58:19","slug":"ex-clippers-trainer-sues-team-over-treatment-of-star-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/25\/ex-clippers-trainer-sues-team-over-treatment-of-star-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Clippers Trainer Sues Team Over Treatment Of Star Player"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Randy Shelton, a former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/05\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-la-clippers-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> strength and conditioning coach, is <a  href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/10\/24\/sports\/former-clippers-trainer-suing-franchise-for-termination\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">suing the Clippers<\/a> and team president Lawrence Frank. He is alleging wrongful termination, harassment, and unsafe treatment of star forward <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a>. Shelton\u2019s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County, is filled with claims of medical negligence, discrimination, and tampering that stem back to his recruitment by the Clippers in 2019. The former Clippers trainer is suing because, despite warnings regarding Leonard\u2019s health, the Clippers pressured the star into <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/24\/nba-likely-to-investigate-former-mvps-player-participation\/\" target=\"_self\">playing while still injured<\/a>, ultimately compromising Leonard&#8217;s well-being and leading to tensions within the organization and his wrongful termination.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Ex-Clippers Trainer Sues Team Over Unsafe Treatment Of Star Player<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Tampering in Clippers\u2019 Recruitment of Kawhi Leonard<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shelton first met Leonard at San Diego State University, where he trained him during his college career. Leonard kept his relationship with Shelton throughout his career. Shelton claims this close relationship was a key factor in the Clippers&#8217; interest in hiring him, especiallt as they pursued Leonard as a free agent after his 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/07\/boston-celtics-win-total-odds-and-betting-preview\/\" target=\"_self\">NBA championship<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/08\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-toronto-raptors-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Toronto Raptors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lawsuit filed today against Clippers by Kawhi Leonard\u2019s personal trainer that includes allegations of tampering years prior to signing the star.<\/p>\n<p>Thread: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Txwq35DGfh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Txwq35DGfh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisBHaynes\/status\/1849549592062525867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lawsuit reveals that beginning in 2017, the Clippers allegedly held secretive meetings with Shelton. They were to gain insight into Leonard&#8217;s health and preferences, pushing the boundaries of NBA tampering rules.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The crux of Shelton\u2019s claims is that he was recruited not solely for his coaching expertise but as a part of a strategy to get Leonard to Los Angeles. According to Shelton, he met with Clippers executives, where there were discussions about Leonard\u2019s free agency much before the league would allow. Leonard ultimately signed with the Clippers in July 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Kawhi Leonard\u2019s Injury Management\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shelton\u2019s lawsuit also claims that despite initial promises, his role within the organization was marginalized, having minimal access to team resources and staff beyond Leonard. Shelton also claims that the Clippers mishandled Leonard\u2019s injury management and ignored his suggestions for a more conservative rehab approach, especially after Leonard&#8217;s ACL tear in 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Shelton, Leonard&#8217;s injury should have required a full two-year recovery period. Instead, the Clippers allegedly pressured Leonard to return early, disregarding medical protocols and Leonard&#8217;s long-term health. As a result, Leonard only played 52 games in the season following his injury recovery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Included in his examples of negligence, the former Clippers trainer says in one game, the Clippers ignored Leonard&#8217;s visible concussion symptoms. He claims they neglected to follow NBA concussion protocols. Shelton says that his attempts to report these issues to the team were dismissed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kawhi is expected to be sidelined for &quot;indefinite period of time&quot; as he rehabs the inflammation in his right knee, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ShamsCharania<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NotoriousOHM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NotoriousOHM<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uoeqSY4euv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/uoeqSY4euv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BleacherReport\/status\/1846990742318711112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shelton says his multiple complaints went unheard. When he filed a written complaint about the situation, the Clippers dismissed it as unfounded. He was terminated without cause in July, just weeks after Leonard&#8217;s knee injury sidelined him once again.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Kawhi Injuries Still An Issue<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to these allegations, the Clippers issued a firm denial. The team stated that Shelton\u2019s claims were found to be without merit. That being said, there is no denying that Leonard\u2019s injury issues persist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is impossible to know if the Clippers had listened to Shelton how things may have turned out. We know Leonard has only played more than 60 games once during his tenure in Los Angeles. The Clippers have failed to make a championship run since acquiring Leonard, largely due to his injuries. Leonard is currently out indefinitely with knee inflammation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Randy Shelton, a former Los Angeles Clippers strength and conditioning coach, is suing the Clippers and team president Lawrence Frank. He is alleging wrongful termination, harassment, and unsafe treatment of star forward Kawhi Leonard. Shelton\u2019s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County, is filled with claims of medical negligence, discrimination, and tampering that stem back to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":103019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1608,27,62],"tags":[49402,168,49758,4745,202],"class_list":["post-102989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-nba","tag-2024-2025-season","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-lawrence-frank","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-news"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}