Danny Green went from key fixture as a member of the San Antonio Spurs over the past eight seasons to being a salary cap throw-in in the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio for DeMar DeRozan.
The ultimate professional during his time in San Antonio, Green started 60-plus games in each of the past four seasons. He was in no way a star. Instead, the former Cleveland Cavaliers second-round pick played whatever role Gregg Popovich asked of him.
In talking about his time with the Spurs during a recent podcast, Green had some pretty alarming comments about the organization’s medical staff and the situation that led to Leonard’s split with the Spurs.
On Danny Green's Podcast, Inside the Green Room with Danny Green, he revealed that he unknowingly played last season with a torn groin. The injury went undetected by Spurs medical staff until his exit physical at the end of the season. pic.twitter.com/beyIbrgWpM
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) July 24, 2018
“I strained my groin first half, probably the first or second quarter, trying to chase down and block a dunk … Got an MRI the next day, seen it was a slight strain and it would take a couple weeks to heal. So we do the rehab and everything we’re supposed to do and with a groin strain, it’s hard to tell between a groin strain and a sports hernia sometimes,” the wing said. “It had some time to heal and (I could) play again. But certain days, they’d be bad days and some days, they’d be good.”
Green originally suffered the injury during a game against the Boston Celtics on December 8. The Spurs’ medical staff initially diagnosed it as a minor groin strain.
Green would ultimately miss 10 games over the next month, having decided rehab was the best way to go. Not until his exit physical at the end of the season was Green diagnosed with a torn groin.
It’s pretty similar to the situation Kawhi Leonard found himself in. After suffering a quad injury in the 2017 Western Conference Finals, Leonard played in a grand total of nine games this past season. In the process, the All-NBA performer sought a second opinion outside of the Spurs’ organization multiple times.
It’s certainly an interesting dynamic to look at now that the Leonard situation has come to a head. Whether this means there are widespread issues within the Spurs organization remains to be seen. But it’s definitely not a good look.