Randy Shelton, a former Los Angeles Clippers assistant performance coach, is suing the Clippers and team president Lawrence Frank. CBS Sports has obtained a copy of the lawsuit.
Shelton was part of the Clippers' performance staff from 2019 to 2023. Previous to that, he was the strength and conditioning coach at San Diego State University, where he worked with Kawhi Leonard. He continued to train Leonard in the offseason after Leonard left for the NBA.
In the lawsuit, Shelton claims that the Clippers subjected Leonard "to unsafe and illegal treatment, in disregard for Leonard's health and safety and known medical restrictions." Then, after Shelton complained about this alleged unsafe and illegal treatment, they targeted, discriminated against and harassed Shelton, ultimately terminating his employment, the lawsuit says.
Shelton also claims that his hiring was "the culmination of a multi-year campaign" to sign Leonard "in disregard for the NBA's prohibition on tampering." Shelton said he met with Frank "in or around" February 2019. Leonard signed with the Clippers in July of that year.
More specifically, Shelton alleges in the lawsuit that:
- Beginning in 2017, when Leonard was still playing for the San Antonio Spurs, Clippers executive Mark Hughes "set up numerous meetings" with Shelton, during which Hughes asked Shelton about Leonard's health and the likelihood of Leonard joining the Clippers, repeatedly emphasizing "the need for 'discretion.'"
- Over the course of 15 phone conversations and "at least seven meetings" with Shelton before Leonard became a free agent in 2019, Hughes "repeatedly pressed for information regarding Leonard's needs," communicated the Clippers' desire to sign him and discussed hiring Shelton as a strength and conditioning coach.
- Frank met with Shelton "in or around February 2019," while Leonard was playing for the Toronto Raptors, "to discuss Leonard's willingness to join the Clippers," to communicate to Leonard through Shelton and to assure Shelton that he could join the Clippers' performance staff if Leonard signed with the team. Leonard signed with the Clippers in July 2019.
- After the Clippers signed Leonard and hired Shelton, the role Shelton was promised on the performance staff "quickly diminished," as their hiring of Todd Wright meant that Shelton had "little agency to do anything other than work with Leonard, isolating him from the rest of the team."
- The Clippers "deliberately excluded Shelton from meetings and withheld necessary medical treatment and information that impacted Leonard's training and health."
- Leonard should have been sidelined for a full two years after tearing his ACL in the 2021 playoffs, but the Clippers insisted he return at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and only reluctantly agreed to a load-management plan, for which Shelton advocated.
- Wright "berated" Shelton and told him that no one wanted him around during a meeting in December 2022, after Shelton had formally requested a leave of absence.
- The Clippers ignored Leonard's concussion symptoms when he was hit in the face during a game on March 25, 2023, despite the league's concussion protocols.
- Shelton filed a written complaint to the Clippers about "his work environment and the handling of Kawhi Leonard" in April 2023, after Leonard's season-ending knee injury, and was terminated without cause in July 2023, weeks after the Clippers had formally notified him that they'd found the allegations in the complaint to be unsubstantiated.
"We hope that our client's lawsuit will serve as a wakeup [sic] call to the Clippers organization that their players are not just dollar values but are humans requiring proper -- and not hastened -- health and recovery treatment for the careers and lives afterwards," John David, one of the lawyers representing Shelton, said in a statement.
The Clippers' statement on the lawsuit, via Chris Haynes: "Mr. Shelton's claims were investigated and found to be without merit. We honored Mr. Shelton's employment contract and paid him in full. This lawsuit is a belated attempt to shake down the Clippers based on accusations that Mr. Shelton should know are false."
Shelton is seeking "significant" damages at trial, his attorneys told ESPN.
Leonard is currently out indefinitely because of inflammation in his right knee. He appeared in 68 regular-season games in 2023-24, but was sidelined with knee inflammation toward the end of the season and his attempted comeback during the Clippers' first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks lasted one and a half games.
