LOS ANGELES — A former trainer for the LA Clippers filed a wrongful termination suit against the team, alleging he was fired for trying to stop what he said were unsafe and illegal medical treatments on oft-injured star Kawhi Leonard.
In a suit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court (Central District), Randy Shelton — who worked with Leonard at San Diego State where Shelton served as a strength and conditioning coach, and was with the Clippers training staff from 2019 to 2023 — said that Clippers disregarded Leonard’s health and safety and known medical restrictions. The suit also accuses the Clippers of tampering with Leonard leading up to his free agency in 2019 and using Shelton’s potential employment with the Clippers to incentivize Leonard to join the franchise while the forward was with the Toronto Raptors.
In the lawsuit, which names members of the Clippers front office led by president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, Shelton alleges the team met with him repeatedly and promised him a role within the organization. Shelton, who worked at San Diego State from 2010 to 2019, maintained a relationship with Leonard after he was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 2011.
Shelton would ultimately leave the school to be a performance specialist with the Clippers. The lawsuit alleges that not only did the Clippers pursue Leonard through Shelton while Leonard was in Toronto, but that the connection between the Clippers and Shelton began as early as 2017 when Leonard was entering his last season with the Spurs.
Shelton is seeking unspecified monetary damages for lost wages, as well as non-specific monetary payments for mental and emotional stress from being fired.
The Clippers denied Shelton’s allegations in a statement, saying, “Mr. Shelton’s claims were investigated and found to be without merit. We honored Mr. Shelton’s employment contract and paid him in full. This lawsuit is a belated attempt to shake down the Clippers based on accusations that Mr. Shelton should know are false.”
The NBA acknowledged the lawsuit Thursday, but offered no further comment.
Shelton was renowned for working with Leonard in the offseasons, working specifically to strengthen Leonard’s quad muscles. Leonard missed time due to a left quadriceps injury in the 2012-13 season and later was diagnosed with right quadriceps tendinopathy during the 2017-18 season — his final campaign with the Spurs in which Leonard appeared in only nine games.
Toronto aggressively applied load management with Leonard, keeping him from playing both games of any back-to-back that season to ensure Leonard’s quadriceps would stay healthy throughout the season.
The Clippers adopted Toronto’s back-to-back strategy in Leonard’s first season in LA, but Leonard played in back-to-back contests following the Clippers’ disappointing postseason in the 2020 bubble.
Leonard’s right knee issues came into greater focus starting in June 2021, when he suffered a partially torn right ACL. Leonard signed a four-year contract that offseason that included a player option in the 2024 offseason. While Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season recovering from ACL surgery, the Clippers failed to survive the Play-In Tournament.
The lawsuit alleges that the Clippers’ strategy going into the 2022-23 season was for Leonard to play, and the two-time NBA Finals MVP participated fully in training camp while playing multiple preseason games. Leonard was held out of back-to-backs again, but he volunteered to come off of the bench for the opening week of the 2022-23 season. By Week 2, Leonard’s surgically repaired knee flared up and he was out for 25 days. The lawsuit alleges that Leonard returned prematurely, and in the third game of his return, Leonard suffered a serious ankle injury that kept him out an additional two weeks.
By the end of the season, Leonard participated in two sets of back-to-back contests, with the Clippers trying to stay out of the Play-In Tournament without injured star Paul George. The Clippers clinched a playoff spot, but Leonard tore his right meniscus and missed the final three games of the postseason.
Shelton was terminated the following offseason.
The Clippers’ approach to Leonard changed for the 2023-24 season, as Leonard played in back-to-back contests and in 68 of the team’s first 74 games of the season. The only time Leonard missed were four games in late December due to a hip contusion, one game right before the All-Star break due to an adductor strain and one game in March for rest during a stretch of five games in seven days. Leonard also left a game in March due to thoracic spasms, though he played the following game in Chicago.
But Leonard’s right knee flared up in April, and he missed the final eight games of the regular season and only appeared in Game 2 and 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Leonard underwent a procedure in May to address right knee inflammation and was cleared to participate at Team USA training camp in July, but he was later replaced on the national team by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.
Before training camp, the Clippers announced Leonard would be held out of drills to strengthen his knee, with Frank saying the swelling is “almost gone.” Coach Tyronn Lue said a month later that Leonard had another flare-up after leaving the national team.
Lue clarified that Leonard has not had a setback since the Clippers began camp, and Leonard is week to week while he continues to prepare for a season in which he hopes to finish healthy for the first time since 2020.
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(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
