Clippers Fined $50,000 for Coach’s Comments
Image courtesy of Newsweek
By VICTORIA CHOO ‘19
The LA Clippers were fined $50,000 following their decision to rest two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in a nationally televised game. Despite the NBA’s initial support for this decision, the team was fined after the Clippers’ Head Coach Doc Rivers made comments suggesting that Kawhi was, in fact, healthy.
On November 6, the Clippers faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks with star player Kawahi Leonard on the bench. Because Leonard suffers from an ongoing knee injury, the Clippers have not allowed him to play in back-to-back games as part of “load management.” This is a controversial NBA protocol that rests injured players. While teams want to preserve the health of their star players for crucial postseason games, many fans and television partners are upset about the lack of coverage for these players.
Sitting out is nothing new for Leonard. In his 2018-2019 season with the Toronto Raptors, Leonard’s workload was strictly managed. In fact, Leonard played in only 60 of the 82 regular season games. Despite missing much of the regular season, Leonard went on to lead the Raptors to their first NBA championship, earning his second Finals MVP title in the process.
After moving to the Clippers, Leonard has been kept under similar workload restraints. He has not been allowed to play in any back-to-back games, a move that has upset many fans who want to see the star forward play. Fans who shelled out big bucks to see stars like Kawhi Leonard feel cheated when they see Patrick Patterson playing while Leonard claps from the sideline in a suit.
NBA policy forbids teams from resting star players during nationally televised games. However, following the Clippers- Milwaukee game last Wednesday, the NBA originally supported the decision to rest Leonard. In a statement released to ESPN, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said, "Kawhi Leonard is not a healthy player under the league's resting policy, and, as such, is listed as managing a knee injury in the LA Clippers injury report. The league office, in consultation with the NBA's director of sports medicine, is comfortable with the team medical staff's determination that Leonard is not sufficiently healthy to play in back-to-back games at this time."
Following Bass’ Statement, Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers proceeded to make conflicting statements to reporters. According to USA Today, Rivers said, "[Leonard] feels great, but he feels great because of what we’ve been doing. We just got to continue to do it. There’s no concern here. We want to make sure. Kawhi made the statement that he has never felt better– It’s our job to make sure he stays that way."
In this statement, Rivers appears to be contradicting the injury report claiming that Leonard is still suffering from a knee injury. Following the release of this claim, the NBA fined the Clippers $50,000.
In a statement released by the NBA, the league states, “The NBA has fined the Clippers $50,000 for statements, including by Head Coach Doc Rivers, that were inconsistent with Leondard’s health status.”
Rivers told USA Today, “You’re always disappointed. Sometimes, you agree with the fine, sometimes you don’t. It doesn’t matter. That’s the one thing I learned.” Fortunately for the team, the fine shouldn’t be much of an issue: the Clippers are valued at $2.2 billion and bring in an annual revenue of over $250 million. Despite all the controversy, the Clippers are continuing to move forward in preparation for upcoming games.