Back during the 2017-18 NBA campaign, Kawhi Leonard played in just nine games with the San Antonio Spurs due to a mysterious quadriceps injury that certainly caused a schism between Leonard, Gregg Popovich and his teammates.

Remember: Leonard had just one more year remaining on his contract at the time, and there were some who felt that the two-time Finals MVP was only resting to force his way out of San Antonio. The Spurs themselves seemed awfully suspicious.

But fast forward to now, and it's becoming more and more clear that Leonard probably wasn't embellishing anything. Since being traded to the Toronto Raptors during the summer of 2018 (Leonard then subsequently signed with the Los Angeles Clippers the following offseason), Leonard has played in 60 games just twice. He also missed an entire season in 2021-22.Kawhi

Put his current contract drama with the Clippers aside for a moment. That has nothing to do with his health, and it's obvious that something was very wrong during his final year in San Antonio, regardless of what Popovich and Co. thought.

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas recently ripped the Spurs for how they handled things with the six-time All-Star, noting that he never should have played at all during that final season down by the River Walk.

"Whatever happened at the Spurs, they should just erase that," Arenas said. "Obviously if he is still affected today, that means what was going on as a San Antonio Spur, you've got to side with Kawhi now. He wasn't ready, right? Obviously, he knew something was wrong, and what they were saying with the medical staff with the Spurs, we can say as of today they were (expletive) wrong."

Arenas makes a good point. Leonard definitely wasn't faking anything. He wasn't exaggerating, either. He was certainly injured, and had it not been for his contract situation, perhaps the Spurs would not have been so adamant about trying to coerce him into playing.

Leonard could have absolutely been one of the best players of all-time had he remained healthy. At the height of his powers during the year he led the Raptors to a championship, he was probably the top player in basketball. But thanks to injuries, Leonard never got the chance to show it consistently. And maybe San Antonio is somewhat to blame for that.