Bruce Bowen is not happy about Kawhi Leonard‘s apparent attempt to get traded out of San Antonio. The Spurs may not be eager to trade Leonard after an injury-shortened season and apparent disagreements about how the team handled his rehabilitation, but many NBA teams appear certain the wing will be on the move.
Leonard apparently doesn’t trust the Spurs and prefers to play in Los Angeles, but the situation is complicated. Leonard can sign a lucrative supermax deal with Leonard that would get him more money than he could get from other teams, but it’s also entirely possible Leonard doesn’t sign an extension with anyone and hits free agency next summer.
All the uncertainty around the situation makes it tough to guess what’s happening next, but Bowen says it’s entirely on Leonard that the situation is so fraught. Bowen defended the Spurs in the situation and questioned whether Leonard is getting good advice from his people about how to handle the situation.
Bowen spoke to Sirius XM radio on Thursday night, and according to an ESPN report, the three-time champion with the Spurs had harsh words for Leonard and how he’s handled the situation.
“First, it was, ‘Well I was misdiagnosed.’ Look here: You got $18 million this year, and you think that they’re trying to rush you? You didn’t play for the most part a full season this year. And you’re the go-to guy, you’re the franchise and you want to say that they didn’t have your best interest at heart? Are you kidding me?”
Bowen said he is of the belief that Leonard is getting bad advice, and that he should trust that the Spurs were acting in his best interest this season.
“I think he’s getting bad advice,” Bowen said. “I think what you’re starting to see now is an individual given a certain amount of advice, and it’s not the right advice. Here it is: You were protected in San Antonio. You were able to come up during a time where you still could lean on Tim [Duncan] Tony [Parker] and Manu [Ginobili].”
It’s a situation where a lifelong Spur is being critical of someone who apparently wants to leave the team, sure. But it’s also a former player who dealt with the same coach and staff that Leonard is dealing with right now. It’s clear that someone is telling Leonard that the grass is greener outside of San Antonio, but in Bowen’s opinion, it can’t get much better than what he had with the Spurs.
