The Los Angeles Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard has a special personality. Some NBA players, such as Spencer Dinwiddie, even called him a robot. While Kawhi’s character is known to everyone, his needs appear to cause some friction within the team.
Leonard has been criticized by some analysts for load management during the regular season. He played 57 regular season games for the Clippers last season. The preparation that the two-time NBA champion used for some games did not make his teammates happy.
Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
Before every Clippers game last season, the team’s training staff would honor Kawhi Leonard’s request and create a private space for his pregame routine. The staffers would enter and take over that space for roughly 20 to 45 minutes, according to multiple team and league sources. On the road, there were occasions when the space they occupied was the female staffers’ locker room. That also happened sometimes before a doubleheader at Staples Center when the changing of the court limited the availability of the Los Angeles Kings’ locker room, where Leonard normally warmed up privately.
Being the Clippers’ superstar Leonard received special treatment from the team, which according to an undisclosed source within the team, was an obstacle in building a strong team.
“How do you ever build a strong team with that shit going on?” one team source said. “I thought from the beginning, ‘We’re doomed. Kawhi wants too much special treatment.'”
