With Kawhi Leonard withdrawing from Team USA just days before the Olympics, fans were left wondering what led to him making this decision. Well, coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss almost the entire playoffs, Team USA claimed that they, along with the Clippers, determined that it would be best for Kawhi if he focused on the upcoming season instead of the Paris trip. While it seemed like a reasonable approach considering his injury history, the Clippers President has made a shocking revelation about the decision, making that crystal ball clearer than ever!

Yes, President Lawrence Frank claimed that the Clippers had no part to play in his removal. “It was USA B’s call and I was quite frankly very disappointed with the decision. Kawhi wanted to play, we wanted him to play,” he said. “I was there the first two practices. He looked very good. Was a full participant in everything that they did,” Frank continued.

However, the President revealed that he had missed the 3rd session, and that’s when the authorities made their decision. Frank concluded his statement with a shocking line, saying, “I expressed to them I really wish that they would’ve given Kawhi more time.” And what he’s said now seems to have exposed USA Basketball’s ‘lies’ as his claim is contrary to their official statement. Interestingly, even NBA legend Gilbert Arenas had initially smelled something fishy about Kawhi’s sudden withdrawal.

He pointed out the flaws in USA B’s statement where they claimed that Kawhi had been ramping up for the Olympics for the last few weeks when he was recently photographed enjoying a vacation in Costa Rica.

“We seen he was in vacation. Lying! We seen him in Costa Rica chilling. Few weeks? You’re lying.” Arenas asserted on his pod, accusing USA Basketball of lying. However, what does all of this even have to do with Nike?

Lawrence’s statement could add fire to the Nike controversy as many believe that the multi-billion-dollar sneaker giants are pulling the strings and have a major influence on Team USA’s final roster selection. That is because the company has been linked to the team for several years as their official sponsor and likely holds significant power.

Kawhi Leonard and Nike have butted heads in the past

Hinting at Nike’s involvement in USA B’s decisions, even Jaylen Brown called out the organization with a tweet after his teammate Derrick White was picked as Kawhi’s replacement in Team USA instead of him. “@nike this what we doing?” JB wrote. Sure enough, Nike and Brown have had their differences in the past as the Celtics superstar questioned Nike’s ethics via a tweet two years ago when they cut all ties with Kyrie Irving after he shared an antisemitic documentary on his social media.

Backing Brown’s recent tweet, even media veteran Rob Parker acknowledged Nike’s influence, “I’m with Jaylen Brown. I think that this has a lot to do with his criticism of Nike. And Nike runs this whether people wanna believe it or not.”

But why would Nike have a problem with Kawhi Leonard being in Team USA?

Well, one major reason could be their very public legal battle back in 2019. While Kawhi was a part of the Raptors and on the verge of winning his second championship, he sued Nike for using his ‘Klaw’ logo on their Jordan sneakers, claiming that he owned the rights to that logo because he designed it. In response, the sneaker giants countersued Kawhi a month later for a fraudulent claim of being the sole owner of the logo and breach of contract.

After a year of legal battle, the decision went Nike’s way and the judge ruled that while Kawhi designed the initial sketch of the logo, the final product was significantly different and Nike’s “independent piece of intellectual property.”

Moreover, Kawhi is now signed with their rivals, New Balance. However, it’s important to note that Nike’s influence on USA Basketball’s decisions has not been proven. And there might or might not be a possibility that what Jaylen Brown and Rob Parker claimed was true. What are your thoughts?