Also part of the riff with the team was Kawhi wanted to leave and he used the injury to force his way out. His uncle later admitted this is an interview. (That Kawhi wanted out regardless of the injury). It happens all the time now (players wanting to leave for whatever reason). But it was not normal back then and honestly the Spurs didn’t handle it well. If a player wants to leave you start planning for their exit. The Spurs thought it would blow over once he got back on the court. One of the reasons Pop was so upset with Kawhi was Kawhi’s agents disagreed with the Spurs medical staff and wanted a 2nd opinion. The first person they went to agreed with the Spurs. The 2nd person they went to (now we’re on a 3rd person diagnosing him) said he couldn’t play. So it looked like he was hunting for a doctor that would rule him out. This led to the now famous “ask Kawhi”. A reporter asked Pop when Kawhi would be back from injury. Pop leaned in and angrily said “ask Kawhi, ask him and his team”. Until that point no one knew what was going on behind the scences. It was just a normal player out with injury. Pop reacting that way made the national media look into it and discovered the battle going on behind the scenes. Then there was video of Kawhi walking normally, then he saw the camera and started to limp. LOL Yo, when tell you it was drama, you can’t understand. I won’t even get into the rest right now. Just know it was wild