ESPN’s JJ Redick Fires Back at First Take Colleagues Questioning Kawhi Leonard Injury: ‘It’s Very Obvious That You’ve Played Zero High-Level Basketball’
Former NBA player JJ Redick took exception to his colleagues on First Take questioning the legitimacy of Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard’s latest injury.
Leonard played the first two games of the Clippers’ first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns. Then, the Clippers made the surprise announcement that Leonard would miss Game 3 with a knee sprain. He did not play the rest of the series and the Clippers were eliminated Tuesday night.
On Wednesday morning, Stephen A. Smith argued that the Clippers should “force” Leonard to retire. Last week, he even called Leonard one of the worst superstars in league history.
“I’m done,” Smith said. “He needs to go home, OK. It’s over.”
Although Smith maintained he was not questioning the legitimacy of the injury, he seemed to imply that – unlike Leonard’s teammate Paul George – fans never “see” Leonard get hurt and he just randomly appears on the injury report after looking healthy on the court.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo compared Leonard to other all-time great players and questioned his willingness to tough it out when it comes to injuries.
“Willis Reed’s out there on the court,” Russo said, at which Smith groaned. “Larry Bird’s playing. You gotta go play. Stephen, he’s making $43 million a year. You just said nobody saw him get hurt. He had 38 (points) in Game 1. He had 31 in Game 2.
“Get out there and play! Try it! Play 10 minutes. See what you got in you.”
When Redick finally spoke, he made it apparent he was fed up with their sentiments.
“I mean this in the nicest way possible to both of you,” Redick said, “but listening to each of you right now, it’s very obvious that you’ve played zero high-level basketball and you do not understand the requirements of doing that.
“A sprained ankle is very different than a sprained knee. A sprained knee for someone who has torn a quad tendon, and who has torn their ACL, is very different than someone playing on a hobbled ankle in the 1970s. It’s a terrible analogy.”
He then called out Smith and Russo for their remarks about not actually seeing Leonard’s injury.
“You say, ‘I’m not questioning his injury,'” Redick said to Smith. “You just said, ‘We saw Paul George get hurt. We didn’t see Kawhi get hurt.’ Let’s give the guy some credit. He did it in Game 1. He went out there and battled Game 2. Guess what? If he could play, he would play.
“Do you not have empathy for someone who has came back from two major leg injuries? Do you not?”
While the three were arguing on First Take, NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news on Twitter that Leonard’s injury was actually a torn meniscus. Team medical staff “shut him down” for the playoffs when the tear was discovered.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Leonard averaged 35 points in first two games of this postseason vs. Suns before the meniscus injury was revealed and he was shut down by medical staff.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 26, 2023
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