If we need to blame someone for load management, blame Popovich for introducing.
It wasn't noticed a lot during his time because Spurs had a lot of players they can rely on, with the Clippers, it was only Leonard which is his star and people are coming to watch him and without him playing, Clippers would be a different team.
I guess your right, but that load management thing does affect how the fans felt towards the league. The same deserve what they expect on the team especially if Leonard wasn't really injured or something ill.