The Clippers have opted not to renew analyst Bruce Bowen's contract after the critical comments he made over Kawhi Leonard, ESPN.com reported.
Bowen, who was under contract with Fox Sports West, seemed to have struck a bad note with the Clippers over the comments. Leonard will be a free agent in 2019, and the Clippers reportedly have him high on their target list.
As the guessing game surrounding where Leonard would go next reached fever pitch in June after his fallout with the Spurs, Bowen criticized the way the situation was handled by Leonard.
"I think there's nothing but excuses going on," Bowen told Sirius XM Radio on June 22. "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?
"I think he's getting bad advice. 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]."
Leonard ended up signing with the Raptors, though reports indicate he wants to eventually end up in Los Angeles.
Bowen was hired by the Clippers last season to replace analyst Michael Smith.
He spent 12 seasons in the NBA, eight of which were with the Spurs.
