Kawhi Leonard’s former personal trainer filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Clippers for wrongful termination, NBA insider Chris Haynes, who obtained the lawsuit, reported. Randy Shelton alleged he was fired after he voiced his concerns that Leonard was receiving “unsafe and illegal treatment” for his injuries.
The Clippers responded with a statement to Haynes regarding Shelton’s claims.
Mr. Shelton’s claims were investigated and found to be without merit. We honored Mr. Shelton’s employment contract and paid him in full. This lawsuit is a belated attempt to shake down the Clippers based on accusations that Mr. Shelton should know are false.
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Leonard and Shelton’s relationship began at San Diego State when Leonard played basketball for the university from 2009-11. Leonard signed with the Clippers as a free agent ahead of the 2019-20 season and tore his ACL during the second round of the playoffs in 2021. He underwent surgery and was told he had a two-year recovery.
“Simply put, this recovery timetable was unacceptable to the Clippers,” the lawsuit claimed.
While Leonard sat out the entire 2021-22 season, the Clippers put together a load management plan for their star player that wouldn’t have him play in back-to-back games and would limit his minutes during the games he did play.
But Shelton claims the plan was never followed once the season began.
“Leonard was required to play significant minutes to begin the season and complained of swelling and inflammation in his knee after the first two games, on October 24, 2022,” the lawsuit says. “An MRI revealed cartilage damage to his knee, and Leonard was given biologics to band-aid the problem rather than allowing Leonard the full time to heal.”
Leonard suffered ruptured ankle ligaments and a concussion that the lawsuit claimed were not treated properly by the Clippers, and information about his ankle was withheld form Shelton.
Shelton wrote a complaint to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was told his concerns would be investigated. He alleges the claims weren’t supported and Shelton was terminated not long after in July 2023.
Leonard, who withdrew from the 2024 Paris Olympics to focus on his rehab, is sidelined indefinitely with knee inflammation to start the 2024-25 season, and could miss several weeks.
