Warriors Lodge Complaint to NBA Against Blazers for Misleading Information on Gary Payton II’s Health

• Golden State Warriors have issued a formal complaint to the NBA against the Portland Trail Blazers
• Gary Payton II was acquired from the Blazers but a physical discovered an issue requiring long recovery
• The basketball association has reportedly launched an investigation into alleged misleading information

There's a scandal brewing in the NBA.

The Golden State Warriors have lodged a complaint to the basketball association against the Portland Trail Blazers, for allegedly providing misleading information on Gary Payton II's injury status.

The NBA has now launched a review of possible wrong information about Payton, during the four-team trade deadline deal that brought the guard back to San Francisco.

The deal involved the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks, the Blazers and the Warriors. GSW traded James Wiseman to the Pistons to bring the 30-year-old guard back to Chae Center, then rerouted Saddiq Bey to Atlanta for five second-round picks.

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The picks and the player were the draft capital needed to bring Payton back.

The reigning NBA champions saw the guard as a win-now deal, but the injury situation puts his availability in serious jeopardy.

Payton's physical uncovers problems

Following the trade last Thursday, Payton underwent a physical the next day, revealing a core muscle issue that could take two to three months to heal.

The Warriors have until Sunday evening to go through with the trade or rescind it.

According to the Athletic, Payton has been playing through the pain with the Blazers, featuring in 14 of the team's last 17 games.

The publication cited sources claiming Blazers staff pushed him to play through it, giving him Toradol shots - something which Payton's agent denied.

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The guard signed a three-year $26-million deal in the summer but wanted to leave the Blazers.

However, the team's general manager, Joe Cronin said Payton was healthy, per Clutchpoints.

“Player safety is super important to us. It’s a super important thing around the league. We were playing him… He had been cleared and we were confident that he was healthy when he was playing. We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or if we thought he was at risk."

Warriors struggles continue

Sports Brief earlier reported on the Warriors losing to LA Lakers 109-103, leaving them with a 28-28 record this season.

LeBron James missed the game because of ankle pain, but D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis lifted the team to an important win on the road.

The defending champions also missed Stephen Curry, who is nursing a leg injury and will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.