Richard Jefferson didn’t name Stephen A. Smith specifically, but it’s clear who he was responding to when he fired back at “the media” calling for Kawhi Leonard to retire.
The Los Angeles Clippers were handed another early exit from the postseason this week after Kawhi Leonard was sidelined by another injury. Despite remaining one of the league’s best players when he’s healthy, Stephen A. Smith ripped Leonard Wednesday morning on First Take, claiming the Clippers should force their superstar forward to retire. Hours later, ESPN analyst and former NBA player Richard Jefferson stated that calling for Leonard’s retirement was inappropriate and disrespectful.
“It’s nobody’s place to tell a player when to retire.”@Rjeff24 reacts to Kawhi’s injury ⬇️
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“There’s been so much said about Kawhi over the last couple of days with him sitting out in the postseason,” Jefferson said Wednesday afternoon on the NBA Today. “The man has a torn meniscus, and there’s nothing you can do. I don’t like hearing people say that the Clippers should make him retire. I don’t like hearing people say that Kawhi should retire. Because it’s nobody’s place to tell a player when to retire. That is not our job, that is not our place.”
Jefferson cited Derrick Rose, Isaiah Thomas and Victor Oladipo as players who were given the opportunity to keep battling back from injury.
“We can’t sit up here in this position and ever tell a player when it’s done. In my opinion, that’s not our place,” Jefferson continued. “To say that we should try and convince Kawhi to retire, the Clippers should get him to retire, I think that is inappropriate, I think that is kind of disrespectful because players go through these things, we all have injuries…to question, ‘should he play, should the Clippers bring him back,’ I don’t think it’s anybody’s place in the media to ever tell a player that they should retire.”
Maybe it’s time for the Clippers to move on from Leonard or to stop building around him as a pillar of their roster, but that’s not the argument Smith made Wednesday on First Take. Smith said, “Steve Ballmer and the Clippers should force Kawhi Leonard to retire.” And Smith wasn’t saying it for the betterment of the player, he wasn’t looking out for Leonard’s future health the way he questions whether it’s safe for Tua Tagovailoa to continue playing football.
Smith seemed frustrated by Leonard’s injury history, citing that we never see him get hurt on the court, despite the fact that he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. Allowing that frustration to infringe on a player’s right to rehab and return from injury is disrespectful.
