Woj: Spurs Held Players-Only Meeting to Implore Kawhi's Potential Return to Lineup

[Keepin' it real]

However, i do agree with you, if the dude isn't medically cleared after 5-6 months whatever it is, and multiple rehabs, he's not going to magically be fine in 1 week.

This is where I disagree, and this is where things will take a turn for the surreal.

I expect Kawhi to announce at the end of the regular season, or even during the playoffs, that he's been cleared and wants to play.

[BillMc]

Good time to post this again, tbh..it was probably Parker and Manu doing the talking, though..

That never gets old.

[BillMc]

Definitely has to be Parker and Ginobili IMO..both sounded very annoyed in their recent comments about Kawhi(probably a combination of frustration about his absence + tired of reporters asking them)..they're also the only guys with enough clout to say something(Aldridge as well, but there's no way he would jeopardize his precious touches)..

Also, Manu has been injured his entire career and Parker is a 6-foot tall 170-pound PG who spent his entire career in the paint they also watched Tim Duncan spend his last years playing on 1 functional knee..I can fully understand if they're disgusted by K-Rose..

Manu is renowned for playing through those injuries when he can as the "El Contusion" nickname hints at. He played a playoff series with a broken arm. Parker is an amazing healer always frothing at the mouth to get back on the court. Though they are very different, the Kawhi situation must be mystifying to them both.

[bklynspursfan]

Thanks for sharing this stuff.
Tony and Manu don't know, then no one knows. Difficult situation.

Super annoying all around. Almost feels like they're playing with more edge now too , which is good. Whatever it takes..

It's looking like he may not be back. I believe they can get out the first round without him depending on the match up. That's about it tho.

[SpurPadre]

This is the players imploring Kawhi to come back:

[cd021]

Didn't see that, makes sense..nobody else would have the credibility to say something..

It's very telling that his own teammates don't believe his injury

Tony "Logan of X-Men" Parker and LMAlpha have the credibility tbh. Aldridge put off surgery that would've cost him a month during his final season with Portland to keep the team from falling behind and Parker came back two months faster than normal.

[BillMc]

Tony "Logan of X-Men" Parker and LMAlpha have the credibility tbh. Aldridge put off surgery that would've cost him a month during his final season with Portland to keep the team from falling behind and Parker came back two months faster than normal.

This is true. LMA plays with a heart condition too.

[hater]

sperm fans sucking on that Woj



Settle down. Its just basketball

[Chinook]

Also makes you wonder if Green played so many games with his groin injury because someone was trying to prove a point to Leonard. Didn't end up working out, though.

[Seventyniner]

sperm fans sucking on that Woj



Settle down. Its just basketball

I totally read that as "Seattle down". Fruedian slip on my part?

[dbreiden83080]

Get rid of him in the off-season. Manu will retire, Tony will go somewhere else and rebuild this thing. You guys seriously want to build around this dude after this? He is not made of what it takes to be that Guy. He is not that Guy. Enough is enough..

[dbreiden83080]

Part that stuck out the most.

Of course it is tense. Because when team doctors are telling you to go and play, you ing go and play. He has been acting like a pussy all year long, and they are battling for their playoff lives. You are not going to win over anyone like that. They basically hate him right now..

[dbreiden83080]

Someone put up a poll on whether Spurs should offer the supermax.

I'm very interested to know who supports doing that knowing what we know this morning.

NO ING WAY!!!!

Trade him out of here and rebuild. Start it over. He is not that Guy.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

Bummer.

When you try to recall different Spurs playing/dealing with injuries in the past: Manu with a sprained elbow, Patty Mills with his shoulder injury, Duncan with his plantar fasciitis and bum knees, Tony Parker's successful return from quad injury, etc, you'll definitely want to ask, WTH exactly is going on with Kawhi?

Don’t forget Manu lost a testicle.

[Brunodf]

Still waiting for the real sources aka ST poster sources to tell us the truth about the meeting tbh

[spurs1990]

and that's the part about Woj that has changed and no doubt it is attributed to ESPN. i guarantee he is instructed to e up his headlines so that it gets more clicks and then the rest of the article is obtuse enough where it needs to be in order to facilitate more conjecture. too bad about Woj selling out like that but he's big time now and making the $$$ so i'm sure he's content.

Right this is a good point about how digital media is now operating.

Maybe print/radio was also like that back in the day but from now on I'm taking everything written on those sites with a grain of salt, whereas I'm not pouncing on Leonard when the reality of the situation is being skewed for dramatic (clicks) affect.

[gameFACE]

Back in ’05 Duncan injured his ankle nasty against Detroit in the regular season. Started the playoffs on two bum ankles IIRC. Then in the conference semis he rolled it again against Seattle. Then he was Finals MVP.

Not that this has anything to do with Kawhi but……

[MannyIsGod]

Well, I've done a complete swap between how I felt with LA and Kawhi. This has certainly been a crazy season. At this point, its clear to me that someone gave Kawhi some really stupid advice this year and being in his ear is going to cost him a lot of money. There's no way in the Spurs will give him the Supermax, IMO. It sucks because this dude has tanked his value.

I just can't believe someone over Manu, Tony, and Pop. Sorry, but those 3 have a legacy of excellence and while I really loved what I thought Kawhi had become, it's clear that he'll never be on the same level as Duncan.



Hope LA can lead this team for a few years. Has actually been great watching him work this season.

[bklynspursfan]

[spurs1990]

MannyIsGod very good post. I 100% relate to feeling 180 degrees different on Leonard.
I really really thought he'd be up there with Duncan and Ginobili as an all-time heart and soul Spurs player.

What bugs me is would Leonard be conservative as he is without the potential contract situation upcoming? In other words if he was playing on the first or second year of the supermax, wouldn't he have suited up and playing now? This relates to all the posts on this thread covering numerous TD, Manu, and Parker injuries where they played through it. I don't think at any point were those three ever concerned about risking money on future contracts. And so you have a dividing line on how Spurs fans should view them in comparison.

[SAGirl]

thanks for sharing again... you know obviously his characterization of the meeting is what I expect.

This was not the Kevin Love situation, where teammates ganged up on him for allegedly exiting a game and not coming back due to illness. As a sideline note, Kevin Love has since then come out with mental health issues being a factor and he was injured and distressed, so that is a totally different perspective...

But in the Kevin Love situation, incidentally also leaked by Woj

I'd say the Spurs meeting was not accusatorial or confrontational but teammates wanted to find out what was up. It apparently turns out that they didn't learn anything new and at least Manu came out of that meeting with the feeling that he's not coming back this season. That is what I personally perceived from all this.

[DPG21920]

Also, I’m not surprised to see Manu/TP being the one’s speaking out. Obviously, times have changed. Kawhi is very obviously not a Tim Duncan (nor is that fair to expect that).

We should expect however, for the face of a franchise, for him to be a better communicator and respect his teammates enough to stay close, cheer them on and be a leader. SA shields Kawhi because of his nature from most of the duties of a franchise superstar. But someone looking to get paid 200M as the face of franchise owes his teammates a of a lot more than he’s given them.

Not only watching them battle and fight and scrap, but then to have to answer non-stop questions from media/fans on his behalf? Kawhi has royally screwed his teammates over. They would understand (and it was reported in this recent meeting that they still do understand) and support him not playing through an injury. They don’t understand why he’s not around and distanced himself from them.

But back to my main point of Manu/TP doing the talking. They are legends who grew up with Tim and they themselves put the team first. Kawhi is obviously like the 99% of other NBA players who don’t think like that (and that’s fine), but Manu/TP aren’t used to it, don’t like it and they are on their last legs. They don’t care if they alienate Kawhi because they know they don’t have much longer anyways.

As much as TP/Manu love the Spurs, they are legends that are fading and don’t want to deal with this crap and would prefer their last years be spent with the best chance possible of going out winners.

[tholdren]

Remember when i said this bum wasnt a leader? And that would implode once this fake fmvp was in front?

Name the last time spurs had drama.... todays nba. Total trash

[Nathan89]

After watching the video I can easily see Woj being pretty much entirely accurate and the players disagreeing tbh. Just the base narrative one could get is that the team "ganged" up on Kawhi. Players would probably feel that is way off base. Plus you wouldn't want to do that to a teammate. "tense and emotional" can easily be disagreed with. Players may have different standards and interpret that completely different. Further the norm of a team could be different. Or simply that seems more "puffed up" and players simply feel they had a reasonable discussion to get information. One could characterize "frustration and confusion" as concern. Teammates perhaps feels any "divide" is not that significant. Especially, from Green's standpoint where he has kept in contact with Kawhi.

Gays comments fitting right in line with what I expected. Things are up for interpretation. That doesn't mean Woj is entirely wrong. The meeting for damn sure wasn't enjoyable or ideal.

[tholdren]

Totally gay