Ever since Kawhi Leonard announced his decision to part ways with the United States Olympic team due to increasing health concerns, the public response to his decision has been questionable at best. LA Clippers fans have generally expressed their support for their star player, but the comments by some other NBA fans (or even neutral observers) has been a bit off-putting.
The worst comments came from those expressing that Kawhi was done for, that he would not be the same anymore, and some even had the audacity to say he should retire. The truth is, we do not know the state of Kawhi's health exactly, but it seems like it should go without saying that we should all hope for a speedy recovery for his knee inflammation, regardless of team affiliation.
But as we know, talking heads and random faceless accounts on the internet like to poke fun at others' circumstances for their own amusement. LeBron James recently sent out a personal message to Kawhi, reassuring him and seemingly rebuking the haters in the process.
LeBron gave reassurance to Kawhi
Speaking to reporters at a Team USA media availability, LeBron expressed the level of togetherness the rest of the Olympic squad feels with Leonard despite his departure under unfortunate circumstances. "He's a brother of ours," said James. "He's part of the fraternity, whether he's here or not. He has to take care of himself and that's all that matters."
It is certainly disappointing that Kawhi's health will not allow him to participate fully with what looks to be a special group. But at the same time, it is comforting to hear the words of arguably the biggest verbal leader of Team USA publicly express his support for his brother, reassuring him that they are behind him in his recovery.
As we know, Kawhi is a person that tends to march to the beat of his own drum. But it still has to be encouraging to hear LeBron express his support so publicly. With any luck at all, Leonard will be back on the floor at full strength by the time the Clippers open up their season at the brand new Intuit Dome in October.