Getty Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Talk about brutal takes.
When Shams Charania broke the news Los Angeles Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard may have suffered an ACL injury and will be out indefinitely, likely missing the remainder of the postseason, the news devastated Clips fans and NBA fans alike. One sports radio personality, however, went a completely different direction in a bizarre rant upon hearing the news.
ESPN710’s Travis Rodgers, co-host of the L.A.-based Travis and Sliwa Show, spoke live on the air June 16 about Leonard’s injury, which he says has restored “order to the universe.”
Follow the Heavy on Clippers Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content out of Clipper Nation!
Follow Heavy on Clippers
Rodgers Roasted for Horrible Take on Kawhi’s Injury
Apparently, Rodgers is of the opinion that if there’s a higher power watching over the universe, that higher power is not a Clippers fan. “There’s something comforting knowing the universe has some order,” Rodgers began, when speaking about Leonard’s knee injury. “We all live on this little blue marble, and we’re all just kind of spinning around at the whims of whoever’s in control of all of this, right? Is it all just totally random, or is there a little bit of a master plan, a little bit of some structure and order to all of this? And whoever is in charge of those things, seems to really not want the Clippers to have nice things.”
Whether he was trying to be tongue-in-cheek or not, Rodgers came off as being far too cavalier about a potentially serious injury to one of the league’s top players. And he just kept talking.
“It kind of makes me rest a little easier knowing that there’s something out there that says: ‘You know what? Hey, while the whole world may be crazy, you can rest easy tonight knowing that I’m not gonna let the Clippers get anything nice,'” Rodgers added with a chuckle.
“Jesus,” his colleague, Allen Sliwa, replied, clearly unsure how to respond to one of the worst takes anyone has heard in a long while. But Rodgers wasn’t done. “It just feels like there’s some order to the universe, that’s all I’m saying. I don’t know why that person has picked the Clippers, but apparently, they have. … Somebody somewhere decided nobody gets anything nice that has anything to do with the Clippers.”
Naturally, fans reacted on Twitter, with the vast majority blasting Rodgers for his horrible take. A few fan reactions were NSFW, so be warned in advance:
@TomerAzarly Damn @TravisRodgers just like that?? I guess u are all the same @ESPNLosAngeles that celebrate when something bad happens to the Clippers. Now this is low, bc it’s a severe injury to a superstar player. Just sad…
@TomerAzarly Laker fan here and this is a horrible take. Absolutely garbage. @TravisRodgers basically celebrating an injury to one of basketballs best players.
@TomerAzarly @espn you applaud this shit? One person “he aint even a person” making fun of the injury the pain of another person just because he doesnt play for his Fanboy Team??
The Latest on Kawhi’s Knee Injury
Bad takes by radio hosts aside, the Clippers managed to win Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the Utah Jazz without Leonard, 119-111. Paul George played lights out, finishing with 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, but L.A. would undoubtedly like to have Leonard back sooner than later.
“He’s a little down because he wants to be here,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said about Leonard. “But that’s part of the game, he understands that. But he wants to be there for his teammates. We understand what’s going on right now, so he’s going to cheer us from afar and we’ll get back on to it tomorrow.”
The Clippers coach says that while the team is trying to be positive, he didn’t have any concret news about his superstar’s return yet.
“No potential return. We’re not sure about that. We just know that we’re optimistic, trying to wait for everything to clear up, get the testing back in the next 48 hours or so and kind of go from there.”
READ NEXT: Jazz Star Donovan Mitchell Has NSFW Response to Injury vs. Clippers