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'Nothing but excuses': Spurs great Bruce Bowen rips Kawhi Leonard

USA TODAY SPORTS 6/22/2018 AJ Neuharth-Keusch

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Kawhi Leonard demands trade from Spurs

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Add Bruce Bowen to the list of members of the San Antonio Spurs family to speak out about Kawhi Leonard.

Less than a week after it was made public that Leonard wants out of San Antonio following a tumultuous season during which he played just nine games due to a quad injury, Bowen called out the two-time Defensive Player of the Year for his handling of the saga.

"I think there's nothing but excuses going on," Bowen, who won three championships in San Antonio and was selected to eight All-Defensive teams during his career, told Sirius XM NBA Radio on Thursday. "First, it was, 'Well I was misdiagnosed.' Look here: You got $18 million this year, and you think that they're trying to rush you? You didn't play for the most part a full season this year. And you're the go-to guy, you're the franchise, and you want to say that they didn't have your best interest at heart? Are you kidding me?"

Leonard made his season debut in December and played sporadically over the next month before being shut down indefinitely to continue his rehab. He sought outside medical advice during the season and spent significant time away from the Spurs, which led to some friction within the organization.

"Not one time has Kawhi come out and said anything to the effect of, 'You know what, hey, I really enjoy being in San Antonio.' Or, 'I can't stand what's going on here in San Antonio,' " Bowen said. "Not one time has he said anything."

Though Leonard didn't speak publicly much during the season, he told reporters in early March that he "for sure" wants to be a Spur for the remainder of his career. He also denied friction and said "everything" regarding his course of treatment "was done as a group."

Coach Gregg Popovich, however, said multiple times during the season that Leonard’s return wasn't up to Spurs doctors but rather Leonard’s own doctors.

"I think he's getting bad advice," Bowen said. "I think what you're starting to see now is an individual given a certain amount of advice and it's not the right advice. Here it is: You were protected in San Antonio. You were able to come up during a time where you still could lean on Tim (Duncan), Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili)."

Bowen also called out Leonard for spending time rehabbing in New York during the Spurs' first-round playoff series with Golden State.

"As a player, if I'm a leader of a team, my team goes on the road in the playoffs, I'm with my guys," he said. "Because that's what it's all about. It's about camaraderie. It's about fellowship. It's a brotherhood. When that didn't happen, it's all kinds of sirens and alarm signals that says to me, 'Is this person fully vested?' ... I don't want to take on a player who's not willing to support his guys during the course of their time needing him."

As for Parker's comments in late March that his quad injury was "100 times worse" than Leonard's?

"I had no problem with them," said Bowen. " ... I think there's something that is a big issue within the game today when you have kids being led astray and they're not thinking for themselves, or when they feel like the grass is greener on the other side. I mean, my man, you were MVP of the Finals (in 2014), you didn't have a problem with the San Antonio Spurs then."

Follow USA TODAY Sports' AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK

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