Spurs legend says he reached out to Kawhi Leonard 'several times,' but Kawhi ignored him

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson dropped a bombshell on Monday while talking with ESPN's Rachel Nichols about the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award he recently received.

Nichols, ESPN's host of "The Jump," started with questions about Robinson's work with IDEA Carver Academy, what Robinson was recognized for with the ENSPIRE award, but ended with question's about the departure of Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard.

"It's one of the oddest situations I think I've seen since I've been in pro basketball," Robinson told Nichols. "He's a hard guy to understand. He's a hard guy to read.

"San Antonio, which we obviously have a reputation for taking care of our players -- almost too much. I mean people criticize us for sitting guys down. Now, all of a sudden, you have a guy who says he felt pressured to play, which is tough. What can you do? We typically don't risk our players health."

Robinson said that he believes Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford have done a good job at preparing the Spurs for the future.

"If the guy's not happy, he needs to go somewhere where he can play," Robinson said.

Spurs fans everywhere let out a collective gasp at Robinson's response to Nichols' question of whether he'd talked to Leonard about his reported discontent with the Spurs and the trade to Toronto.

"Has anybody spoke to Kawhi about this? I talked to his uncle, does that count?" Robinson joked. "He's a hard guy. He's just quiet. I've reached out to him several times and just never hear anything back from him. I think the whole time he's been here I've talked to him maybe a handful of times."

Robinson said he can count the number of words Leonard has spoken to him since he started his career with the Spurs in 2011. 

"He's just a quiet guy and I think that's made it difficult for all parties to really understand each other in this process," Robinson told Nichols.

Robinson suggesting that Leonard ignored him left Spurs fans stunned.

"How do you ignore David Robinson," one fan pondered.