ESPN's Stephen A. Smith did what he does best, providing a scorching hot take for the masses to consume and debate. It's drawn attention north of the border because he came after the Toronto Raptors' newly acquired superstar.

The team announced Tuesday that Kawhi Leonard will undergo a treatment and rehabilitation program to address swelling in his left knee and will be re-evaluated in a week. Unsurprisingly, Smith saw this as an opportunity to lay into the two-time Finals MVP.

And he didn't hold back when speaking on his show First Take.

"This is the worst superstar in the history of sports," Smith said. "Of course, his injuries are legit, I'm not questioning that. I don't wanna hear about, 'Oh, he didn't have an opportunity to work out in the offseason.' Yo, he gets paid hundreds of millions of dollars, he's a veteran, he knows exactly what it takes to be ready. But, he is the master of getting over.

"This man should give a masterclass because I guarantee the cheque still clears."

Does Stephen A. have a point?

Smith says that he understands the injury is legitimate, but he doesn't give Leonard an ounce of grace for it. Smith has been extremely vocal in criticizing Leonard for getting off lightly in the L.A. Clippers salary cap circumvention scandal and is showing no signs of letting up.

If we're being completely objective here, Leonard absolutely did deserve a steeper punishment than the $700,000 fine he had to pay for receiving payments in excess of $60 million outside of the parameters permitted by the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. His contract probably should have been voided, just as Joe Smith's contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves was voided for a similar violation back in the early 2000s.

Instead, Leonard gets to collect the $50.3 million remaining on his contract this year and now has a two-year, $115 million extension from the Raptors to go along with it.

Smith is frustrated that Leonard is making so much money because he feels Leonard doesn't work hard enough to deserve it. He couldn't be more wrong. You don't become a seven-time all-star, a seven-time All-NBA team member, a seven-time All-Defensive Team player, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, win two Finals MVP awards, and make the NBA's 75 th anniversary Top 75 Players of All-Time list by not caring or not wanting to show up.

Just last year, Leonard finished seventh in MVP voting, while making the All-NBA second-team after averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals across 65 games.

Has Leonard made poor choices previously in how he handled his San Antonio exit or opted for the Clippers instead of a Raptors team he just won a championship with? No question. He was wrong to want Paul George for everything that the Clippers had to sacrifice to get him, too. But Smith is making it seem as though Leonard is the "worst superstar in the history of sports" because he doesn't show up. That's simply not true.

Why has Leonard missed time in the past?

What Leonard is, is injury prone. And that's out of his control because he has a chronic, degenerative quadriceps tendinopathy condition that was first diagnosed during the 2017-18 season. It is that very condition that caused the Raptors to employ "load management" with Leonard in 2018-19, which aided his body enough to help lead them to a championship.

Raptors fans will remember well that he absolutely showed up during that title run, despite clearly playing through pain and limping at different points of the Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

When Leonard didn't play the '21-22 season, it was because he tore the ACL in his right knee. He played 52 games upon returning the next season and 68 the season after that. He played just 37 games in the '24-25 season due to right knee inflammation and swelling issues.

Especially from a Raptors perspective, there is no doubting that Vice President of Player Health and Performance Alex McKechnie is going to do exactly what's required to keep Leonard in the best possible condition for the most important moments of the season. If anything, he so expertly managed Leonard's body in his previous Raptors stint that one can't help but wonder if Leonard would have been healthier if he had McKechnie's services the last several years.

McKechnie is one of the world's renowned physiotherapists, having worked with some of the greatest athletes in the world from Shaquille O'Neal to tennis legend Jimmy Connors. If he's determined this is the best course of action for Leonard to be at his physical best, it'd be pretty foolish to doubt it.

There's been nothing to suggest this is someone who is intentionally ducking games or not putting in the work behind the scenes to be in the best possible shape for these games.

Do injuries take away from Kawhi's legacy

While Leonard can't erase the ailments his body suffers from, one can't help but wonder how different his legacy might look with a healthier career.

This was a player who won his second Finals MVP when he was 28. A third Finals MVP would have put him in rarified air, alongside Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan as the only players to have ever done so.

For all the accolades that make his resume so impressive, it's hard not to think he could have had so much more. Arguably one of the top 10 to 15 talents we've seen grace this sport is out of the conversation of the actual greatest 10 to 15 to play this game because of how the injuries have piled up and muddied the past seven years of his career.

This Toronto tenure is an attempt to redeem that career arc.

No reasonable person was silly enough to think that Leonard wouldn't miss games this season or even in the next two seasons. Many estimated that missing anywhere from 15-25 games would have been a normal outcome with his injury history.

It certainly would hurt the Raptors' chances of competing for a title if he misses more than that, but quiet quitting won't be anywhere near the reason.