Kawhi Leonard Opts Out Team USA in Olympics to focus on Recovery
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00:00Let's get this basketball stuff cooking now, Scott.
00:06You talked about it a little bit with Gabe before, and the big news for Team USA, which
00:10has been in Vegas the last few days, getting themselves ready for the Olympics over in
00:14Paris.
00:15They're going to play their first game tonight against Canada at the T-Mobile.
00:19Is that Kawhi Leonard, who had been practicing with the team, showed up, is not going to
00:24play for Team USA.
00:26The Olympics put out a statement basically saying that themselves and the Clippers thought
00:30it would be in his best interest to not play and just focus on being ready for the NBA
00:38season in the fall.
00:39So nothing new injury-wise for Kawhi Scottie, but more of a they don't want to see him get
00:46injured while he's playing, which is what we thought was going to happen two months
00:49ago, and sure enough, it happens now.
00:51Well, I think it's ridiculous.
00:54Like honestly, why go?
00:57Why go then?
00:58What was that, just a tease?
01:00Just to be around all your Hall of Fame buddies?
01:05Was it a get away from Costa Rica, hit Vegas for a few days?
01:09I don't understand this, because I'll tell you what.
01:13He doesn't stay healthy in an NBA season to save his ass to begin with, and let me tell
01:18you something.
01:20They're going to rue the day.
01:22They screwed over Paul George, because he played 74 games this year, and it was the
01:30only time you've ever seen that happen either.
01:33Frankly, losing him leaves them on an island with Kawhi Leonard, because he's the only
01:39guy on the whole team that has any talent now.
01:42Derek Jones Jr. is okay.
01:45I don't deny he's a decent piece, but he can't carry the Clippers when Kawhi Leonard is out.
01:53And they've had Kawhi, George, Zubats, they've had everyone on this team, and they still
01:58stink.
01:59I mean, at the end of the day, they never do anything ever.
02:01They're like, they're beyond the Sixers, Mike.
02:05They're on a whole nother level of losing.
02:07Black Cloud Diner, right?
02:09But they're counting on this guy to carry them, and he can't even make it five days
02:16in Las Vegas with the Olympic team, and they're worried it's going to affect his season.
02:21They should be worried that that's the only player they have on their whole GDAMN team.
02:27And another thing, they're moving into the Shangri-La multi-billion dollar new arena,
02:33and they have no talent.
02:34I mean, I don't consider him talent anymore when he never plays.
02:39The guy's injured, like, I mean, let's face facts.
02:43He plays about five games a month.
02:46Is that about what he does, about five games a month?
02:49Let's be real here.
02:50You can't trust him anymore.
02:52As far as I'm concerned, he should have stayed in Costa Rica.
02:55Like, I think his career is, like, seriously, he's got one foot out the door.
03:00I don't think he's lasting any more than I think Porzingis is.
03:05I've told you four years I give Porzingis.
03:08I'll give Kawhi Leonard the same amount of time left in the NBA.
03:12I think his body's saying, no mas.
03:16Look, I say this to you a lot.
03:19There are just certain franchises in North American sports across all of the leagues
03:25that it doesn't matter what they do.
03:28You can change the owner.
03:30You can change the GM, the coach, the players, the uniform, the stadium, the arena, whatever
03:36you want to do.
03:37It always comes back to the same thing.
03:39They're always going to be a loser organization.
03:42And that's what the Clippers, unfortunately, that's just, it is what it is.
03:45That's what they are.
03:46They made it.
03:47Look at what they gave up.
03:49And it got them nothing.
03:50Now, if you win a championship, fine.
03:53You give up a hundred draft picks and Shea Gilgus to get Paul George in there to play
03:58with Kawhi.
03:59If you win a championship, you can stomach it.
04:02When you don't even come close, it ends up being one of the all-time worst deals ever
04:06because now Paul George is gone and they didn't get anything back for him either.
04:09So that's why they're the Clippers, Scotty.
04:11Clippers will always Clipper.
04:13Jet will always Jet.
04:14Brown will always Brown.
04:15You know, you go on and on and on with the list.
04:18If he's going to have that ring in Toronto, that'll be it.
04:21He's not winning any titles.
04:22Yeah.
04:23Oh, I agree.
04:24He got one out there.
04:25I agree on that one.
04:26He won that by himself.
04:27I'll give you that.
04:28You know, there's no denying when he played it at San Diego State and when he came into
04:34the league and when he was healthy, there's no denying how great he was.
04:40There's no arguing that.
04:41There's also no arguing what we just talked about.
04:44All of his problems with injuries now have caught up with him.
04:48There's no getting around it.
04:49No more Kawhi.
04:51Derek White will replace Kawhi Leonard.
04:54Now look, there's got to be, I know Derek White did a hell of a job for the Celtics
05:00in the playoffs, Scotty.
05:01He was a very good player.
05:03There had to be someone else on the list before Derek White.
05:07Now me and you thought Brunson deserved it.
05:09Brunson obviously can't play in the Olympics.
05:11He's got a cast on his wrist from having that surgery at the end of the offseason.
05:15So Brunson was automatically out.
05:17I saw Jalen Brown tweeting around this afternoon.
05:19I mean, he only won the MVP in the finals in the Eastern Conference.
05:23I guess, was his phone off this morning?
05:26They didn't call him?
05:27I don't know.
05:28I'm a little underwhelmed.
05:29Yeah, I'm not going to argue with you that he's better than White.
05:33Look, White's a really good shooter.
05:37I'll give you that.
05:38But Jalen Brown plays both ends and does it all.
05:44And it's amazing how they treat him.
05:47He wasn't first team, second team, or third team NBA.
05:51But he was the NBA Finals MVP.
05:55He's got that nice little piece for his mantle.
05:57And then he also has a bag of money only, it might be first, it might even be above
06:05tatums.
06:06Like, his money is so outrageous what they paid him.
06:10What do you care what team you're on when you have that much money?
06:13Like, honestly, if somebody gave me $350 million, let's just say I wouldn't be here today.
06:23I mean, I love SportsGrid, but anybody hands me $350 million, Carver, you know, you and
06:33I are like your boy in Wolf of Wall Street.
06:37We're on a yacht, and there's nudity, and there's going to be narcotics.
06:41And I am telling you, I can drink more rum than anybody.
06:44So you give me that kind of money, I'm throwing a, you know, all these guys have their yachts.
06:49I mean, we would have a party like second to none, Carver, you and I, like, we'd be
06:53out of here so fast.
06:54I mean, you talk about sail away to Key Largo, you give me $350 mil.
06:58I mean, it is on.
07:02You want to lay $15.5 tonight with USA at the T-Mobile against Canada?
07:07No.
07:08You looking to lay that?
07:09No.
07:10No.
07:12I'll tell you, I think that what you guys were saying before is probably true.
07:16I think Canada probably cares more about the game than the United States does.
07:22But I still think they're a lot better than them.
07:27And I think if those guys do want to come out, I haven't heard one person today say
07:31they think the United States is going to cover that today.
07:34It would not stun me if they won that game by 20 plus points tonight.
07:39If they care and they want to go out and prove a point that this is what the Olympics
07:43is going to be about.
07:44We don't care if these are exhibitions.
07:45We're going to set.
07:46We're going to lay it down tonight.
07:49This is how it's going to go in Paris for everybody.
07:51This is the team that's the second favorite behind us.
07:53We're going to lay it down here.
07:55Night number one in Vegas.
07:56I'm laying it tonight, 15 and a half with the United States.
07:59It's only 12 now.
08:00It's 12 now.
08:01Down to 12.
08:02It's even easier.
08:03Let's go.
08:04They could barely beat the team with flag and, and, uh, Trace Jackson Davis and put
08:11them ski and the team that they had out there giving them the business.
08:15They beat them by one.
08:16I actually think they're going through the motions.
08:20Like they just, they literally think we're all hall of famers.
08:24We're going to turn this thing on in Paris and you're not going to know what hit you.
08:28I don't think they care at all how they look right now or in Abu Dhabi or in London.
08:34I think they care about Paris.
08:38I don't know if it's that easy that they're just going to show up in two weeks in Paris
08:42and just turn it on and smash everyone.
08:43I think they're going to need to give some good performances before then to show a little
08:48bit of continuity.