reddit.com/r/nba/comments/197163g/highlight_russell_westbrook_asks_a_fan_to_give

Crine

Get well soon Russ

Not gon lie seeing Russ be cool with bev is beautiful to see

We back

That trade was awful

Got nothing in the end

Flippers are embarrassing

Trade away Kawhi at this rate. He’s not gonna be able to do s***

Top 5 play in team ever

Summary

Randy Shelton, claims wrongful termination. Shelton complained to LA Clippers management that they were subjecting Kawhi to unsafe and illegal treatments, disregarding Kawhi's health. Shelton was targeted, subjected to discriminatory action. Shelton was soon terminated from employment with no stated reason.

Tampering

Clippers personnel reportedly attended 75% of Toronto Raptors games in the 2018-2019 season.

Shelton maintained a relationship with Kawhi since he was at San Diego State University, where Shelton was the strength and conditioning coach. After departing San Diego and entering the draft, Shelton was hired by Kawhi to continue working with him. Maintained a personal and working relationship through 2017.
Following Kawhi's ankle injury in the 2017 Western Conference Finals, there was signifiant media attention surrounding the rift between the Spurs medical staff and Kawhi's camp. The Clippers at this time began to pursue Kawhi indirectly through Shelton.

Mark Hughes, the Clippers Assistant General Manager, set up numerous meeting with Shelton, beginning in 2017, to find out about Kawhi's contractual and medical situation, emphasising the Clippers desire to sign Kawhi. Approximately 15 phone calls between the two, and at least 7 meetings. Hughes discusses bringing Shelton into the Clippers organisation as a strength and conditioning coach.

Lawrence Frank met with Shelton in February 2019 to discuss Kawhi's willingness to join the Clippers. Frank assured Shelton that he would have a position within the Strength, Conditioning, and Performance Department at the Clippers if Kawhi joined in free agency.

Shelton pushed out

Shortly after Shelton's hiring, the Clippers hired Todd Wright as Assistant Coach and Vice President of Player Performance. Wright effectively took over the duties and responsibilities promised to Shelton, and Shelton was pushed into a corner where he would only work with Kawhi, being isolated from the rest of the team. The Clippers deliberately excluded Shelton from meetings and withheld necessary medical treatment and information, which affected Kawhi's training and health.

Kawhi's ongoing injuries and Clippers' Demands for Production

After Kawhi's ACL tear in the 2021 playoffs, he was required to undergo surgery in July 2021. Given Kawhi's injury history, the target for recovery was 730 days. For the Clippers, this was unacceptable.

In August 2022, a meeting was held between John Meyer, Lenny Parracino, Dr. Keith Pyne, and Shelton to discuss Kawhi's recovery. Having failed to make the playoffs in 2022, it was decided that the Kawhi would return at the beginning of the 2022-2023 season. The Clippers conceded to apply principles of load management as advocated for by Shelton, with promises that Kawhi would be on a minutes restriction and would not play back-to-backs.

However, Kawhi was required to play significant minutes to begin the season and complained of swelling and inflammation in his knee after just two games. An MRI revealed cartilage damage in his knee.

Kawhi was not given the full time required to heal. Instead, he was given biologics to band-aid the problem.

After less than a month, Kawhi was back on Nov 17. Four days later, he suffered two ruptured ligaments in his right ankle. The Clippers excluded Shelton from pertinent information regarding Kawhi's prognosis and care.

Retaliatory Conduct and Psychological Damage

Shelton made complaints about the false representations by the Clippers and isolation. By December 2022, Shelton's role was further diminished, being kept in the dark regarding medical care and treatment provided to Kawhi. Shelton formally requested a leave of absence. Shelton returned to travel with the team, and in a meeting on December 29, 2022, was berated. Todd Wright exclaimed that he did not feel comfortable in Shelton's presence, and that "everyone doesn't want Shelton around." Frank concurred and stated that he supported Weight as the Lead.

Disregard for Kawhi's Health Pushing for the 2023 Playoffs

As Kawhi continued to battle through his recovery from an ACL tear, cartilage damage in his knee, and ruptured ligaments in his ankles, the Clippers record faltered. In December, Kawhi was averaging 32 minutes/game, but the Clippers demanded more.

By January, Kawhi was averaging 35 minutes per game. In February the number jumped to 38 minutes/game, including a 46 minute performance on February 24th in a loss to the Kings.

On March 25th, Kawhi was hit in the face and showed signs of concussion. The signs were ignored, despite league protocols. Despite promises to Shelton and medical staff, the Clippers asked Kawhi to play back-to-backs in March and April. Kawhi averaged over 37 minutes/game in this time. Kawhi closed the season with back-to-back games, having delivered the Clippers the 5th seed.

After two games in the playoffs, Kawhi was publicly reported to have suffered a "sprain". In reality, an MRI revealed that he had a torn meniscus and additional cartilage damage to his repaired ACL. He would require additional surgery.

Shelton's Complaints and Dismissal

Following the season-ending injury to Kawhi, Shelton wrote a complaint regarding the work environment and handling of Kawhi. he stated that the "mishandling of Kawhi's injury and return-to-play protocol has been mind-blowing... the disregard for his recovery process is unacceptable".

The following day, Lawrence Frank responded that "we take your concerns very seriously and will promptly move forward with an investigation".

Instead, updates and information regarding Kawhi's health were not provided to Shelton, making it impossible for him to perform his work duties. Director John Meyer began deleting past text exchanges with Shelton. This was raised to HR and he was assured these complaints would be addressed. They never were.

The investigation was conducted, and it concluded that Shelton's complaints were unsubstantiated. Less than a month later, Shelton had his employment terminated without cause.

Trade him to where?

I doubt anyone wants him at this point

When I made that comment that injury wasn’t announced

But some team would take Kawhi

You think the Mavs could be one of those teams interested in taking him?

Zubac Allstars season?

Norman Powell ballin’