re: Uncle Dennis: Kawhi wanted out because Spurs doctors wanted him to play through major pain

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the 2nd opinion said to keep rehabbing...

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So then explain why Kawhi's team refused to allow him to be shut down for the year and continued to string the Spurs out to the point where nobody knew if he even intended to try to return for the end of the season? To the point where he's in New York literally hiding from the Spurs' staff and the best head coach in the league has to punt on questions related to his health? Same coach who keeps his stars benched on his own accord even when they're cleared to play for the sake of their health btw.

Kawhi's team wants to craft this narrative that SA was going to push him to play sooner than he was ready when literally nothing they have done before or since backs that up. It just doesn't hold water.

Kawhi is a bitch

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Kawhi wanted out because Spurs doctors wanted him to play through major pain

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Does anyone actually believe this line of bullshite?

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don't understand what Pop or the Spurs wanted him to do prove he wasn't injured?

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It's not necessarily about proving anything. It's about being forthright about one's injury status and intentions. The worst case scenario for Kawhi would have been: Spurs med staff clears him to play, Pop brings him back on minutes restrictions and if KL says he's still not right, Pop shuts him down. Like Pop did after 9 games for him that year.

The real tell is Leonard's camp disallowing the Spurs from putting KL on IR for the year. Essentially, SA wanted to say, "fine, you're too hurt to play, you're too hurt to play. Let the team move on to knowing the active roster is what we've got, instead of thinking our main cog is eventually going to return."

But, no, Kawhi's camp didn't want that either. Kept giving SA false return timelines, upon which they'd later renege. Teammates would be thinking he's coming back in 2 weeks.....he's gonna suit up Thursday vs. the Pelicans, etc., only to get to the locker room for shootaround and, nope, just kidding, #2 can't go tonight. Give it another week or two...

That's what's fricked up about this whole thing. Pop refusing to denigrate him publicly for frittering away what ended up being Manu and Tony's last seasons with the team speaks volumes about him as a person and how protective he still is for current and former players of his. Because the shite Kawhi's team pulled was really unprofessional and inexcusable.

Long story short: there was a workable solution available, but Uncle Dennis was more interested in leveraging his nephew's injury as a way to get him out of SA. It's not like SA is in the habit of running off or mistreating our biggest stars. Quite the opposite reputation, in fact.

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You still discounting if the man was really hurt

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No I'm not. It wouldn't have been the first time the Spurs' staff had honored a second opinion (they actually encourage players to do so, and have for a long time). If he's really hurt, let SA shut you down for the year instead of stringing the organization along and taking potshots even though they've granted you more leniency than most organizations would in that scenario.

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the root of the problem is the Spurs misdiagnosis

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Wrong. And here's where you're discounting the duplicitous nature of Kawhi's camp. Even after his folks came back and attempted to tarnish the reputation of the friendliest organization in the league with regard to player minutes management and health, SA med staff were STILL willing to take him at his word and shut him down for the year.

I think the doctor stuff covered up the fact the Kawahi didn't want to play with LA. The Spurs changed up the entire offense to satisfy LA and I don't think Kawahi liked it. Personally, I'd have dumped LA off a bridge if that's what it took to keep Kawahi happy.