Kawhi Leonard Reportedly Hidden from Spurs Staffers in NY During Injury Rehab

[aznsk91]

There goes any tiny bit of trade value he had.

True. This will turn off many potential suitors.

I agree, why not just release this stuff AFTER kawhi is traded.

[Rust_Cohle]

Uncle Dennis is going to cost Kawhi a lot of money. As it is, not taking the super max from the Spurs is leaving tens of millions on the table.

Maybe he's promising Kawhi that in LA, he'll get huge endorsement deals and the Air Jordan brand will automatically give him a much larger shoe deal.

Thing is, Kawhi has been in the league for a long time so why would he trust someone who doesn't have any experience with pro sports?

I think Kawhi's uncle is an absolute clueless parasite, however it is hard to turn down family. I would never "hire" someone from my family to take care of my affairs, I'd leave it to the professionals but maybe Kawhi sees his uncle as a father figure so he just obediently does what he says.

Messi had his father handle his taxes and got busted for tax fraud (his dad has ZERO business being in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars for the Messi estate). Neymar's dad is his agent and has burned bridges everywhere he went and does shady under the table deals all the time.

I know those are soccer references but most of the time having family be your agent is often a very very dumb thing. But maybe reputation and tact matters very little when you're in line to make millions and millions of dollars.

[lilfishi22]

A lot of this could have been avoided if they could just speak to each other man to man rather than having a mouth piece like "Uncle Dennis" in between them. I never thought LA would be a good destination for him because he's such a quiet guy and the lights and cameras of a major market like LA just doesn't fit his personality which leads me to believe that it's someone else in his camp that's pushing him in that direction.

That's not to say Kawhi doesn't have any blame in this. He's his own man and if he wanted to nobody could have stopped him from speaking with Spurs management about this or that. Perhaps his personality has stopped him from doing that which is why he has Uncle Dennis around but he shouldn't be able to avoid the blame just because of that.

It's always tough when you mix family in with business.

[shortodom]

There goes any tiny bit of trade value he had.

True. This will turn off many potential suitors.

I agree, why not just release this stuff AFTER kawhi is traded.

Wonder if a trade is close and the Spurs released this so Spurs fans wouldn't be angry at them and instead happy that he's gone.

[aznsk91]

Losing some respect for the spurs with all these lame leaks.

Lmao you must be joking... Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man.


If Kawhi wanted all this drama over, literally all he has to do is just come out and say something... ANYTHING... and this would all be over. But he hasn’t. And he won’t. Because his sleezy, money-hungry Uncle is running the show behind closed doors. And he’s on the verge of running his nephew’s career and reputation into the ground, just as it was taking off. Sad.

this is just in regards to this quote "Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man."

I believe the reason there are such contradictory reports is because they are all coming from different sources; laker camp, kawhi camp, and the spur camp.

off the top of my head, there have been reports that:

"kawhi prefers the clippers over lakers"
"kawhi doesn't want to play with Lebron James"
"kawhi would be open to re-signing with the Sixers"
"Boston has made offers for kawhi"
"spurs are asking for Ingram, kuzma, hart, and 4 first round picks from the lakers" or the whole if "BI or Kuzma is offered, spurs would take it" (one of these should be from the spurs)

you're telling me that the spurs are not responsible for any of these reports? ALL of these reports are made to increase kawhi's trade value

[bluemj32]

Just listened to the whole podcast.... Wow, the NOLA story is crazy too!... Smh, c'mon Kawhi

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[CIN-C-STAR]

I'm legitimately stunned how anyone could defend Kawhi's actions after all of this.

Well, I don't blame him for not wanting to play with an aging LaMarcus Aldridge as the second best player on the team. Aldridge is still good, but his play style is a bit of a throwback (midrange shots, post-ups) and he likes to hold the ball which takes it out of the hands of Kawhi. He's 32 so he's probably going to be experiencing age related decline soon rather than later.

There's a bunch of older players in key roles as well. Pau Gasol is 38, Manu Ginobili is 40, Tony Parker is 36, and most of the other main rotation players are in their 30s or close to it. It's not a place a player in his mid-20s wants to spend the next 5 years of his career, watching the team decline as everyone ages out.

Kawhi also feels like the Spurs tried to rush him back from injury, which is a bit of a he said he said situation, we can't really know what to believe there. We DO know that Tony Parker was pretty dismissive of how serious the injury was and how long it should take for Kawhi to return and play, which isn't really a good look for the Spurs because it lends some credence to Kawhi's side of the argument.

If the Spurs are not offering the supermax (sounds like they might not be), then there's not so much reason for him to stay over another bigger market team. The Spurs also made him wait an extra year first post-rookie contract because they needed the cap space that not giving him and extension would create. That's all well and good, but from Kawhi's perspective, he gave up a substantial amount of financial security for a year, when most players at his level get that year 3 extension and didn't have to worry about anything.

It may seem unfair, but he has some solid reasons to move on. Just be glad that he made this clear up front so that the Spurs might be able to swing a trade and get something in return for him instead of seeing him walk for nothing.

Of all the terrible takes in here, this is likely the worst...
You don't blame him for ghosting on his team, leaking demands through the press, and intentionally killing his own trade value in a desperate effort to get to a bigger market, BECAUSE HIS TEAM MATES ARE IN THEIR 30s or CLOSE TO THEIR 30s?
YOU DO REALIZE THAT MOST OF THE ROTATION PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE ARE IN THEIR 30s or CLOSE TO IT, RIGHT?!!?
Where do you want him to go, The Suns???
Also you say why would he want to spend 5 years there if the players are old, but, like, you apparently don't realize that literally none of those players are signed to 5 year contracts?
Like what are you even talking about here? These are not legitimate reasons to do what Kawhi's group are doing

[CIN-C-STAR]

Losing some respect for the spurs with all these lame leaks.

Lmao you must be joking... Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man.


If Kawhi wanted all this drama over, literally all he has to do is just come out and say something... ANYTHING... and this would all be over. But he hasn’t. And he won’t. Because his sleezy, money-hungry Uncle is running the show behind closed doors. And he’s on the verge of running his nephew’s career and reputation into the ground, just as it was taking off. Sad.

this is just in regards to this quote "Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man."

I believe the reason there are such contradictory reports is because they are all coming from different sources; laker camp, kawhi camp, and the spur camp.

off the top of my head, there have been reports that:

"kawhi prefers the clippers over lakers"
"kawhi doesn't want to play with Lebron James"
"kawhi would be open to re-signing with the Sixers"
"Boston has made offers for kawhi"
"spurs are asking for Ingram, kuzma, hart, and 4 first round picks from the lakers" or the whole if "BI or Kuzma is offered, spurs would take it" (one of these should be from the spurs)

you're telling me that the spurs are not responsible for any of these reports? ALL of these reports are made to increase kawhi's trade value

Yeah but what's wrong with the Spurs leaking stuff to increase Kawhi's trade value?
That's what they need to do to fulfill his wish of being traded. There weren't any leaks of the sort until well after he demanded a trade through the press. That doesn't screw Kawhi over at all, it actually helps him get what he wants.
Conversely, however, his camp leaking stuff that kills his trade value is screwing the Spurs over.

[CelticsFTW]

Miami will be the dark horse to grab him.

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[Duke4life831]

It's gotten to the point where it's just too hard to side with and defend Kawhi on this stuff. It seems like all these stories that have come out about Kawhi this past year has turned out to be true. He and his people just seem like way too much of a headache to deal with.

[CIN-C-STAR]

This makes no sense. If Kawhi wanted to go back then, then he could have just said he wanted to leave like he is saying now.

I believe spurs are spreading this to suggest their medical staff didn't mess up and the whole medical issues in NY were just a ruse.

The most logical explanation to all of this is that the spurs organisation mishandled kawhis medical condition either by accident or on purpose to not pay him a big pay salary.

This would be the most elaborate misdirect in Spurs history over something as minor and as common as a misdiagnosis. I highly doubt the Spurs would go through trouble of lying to the media to make their medical staff look better, especially after the way the Spurs and Pop himself have admitted their faults in the past. If they didn't want to offer Kawhi the contract, they could just not offer it to him and skip the BS.

I don't think the most logical explanation in this situation would be something that's highly uncharacteristic for an organization. I think given the information we know about Kawhi's group that has come out, the legal issues, controlling uncle who wants to build a business, shady agents with peculiar relationships, rumors of a big pay day, etc. I think it's alot more likely they are behind this.

It just seems like you have to do some real mental gymnastics to think the Spurs are more likely to be at fault here given all the information we have.

Thank you.
The most logical explanation for this is not some elaborate conspiracy by the Spurs to have Kawhi misdiagnosed to drive down his market value. The Spurs have no track record of such shenanigans in decades of work, and have, in fact, paid their superstars market value and even at times over market value to reward their loyalty.
The most logical explanation is rarely an elaborate conspiracy, particularly when there are no facts to bolster the conspiracy.

[Slim Charlez]

True. This will turn off many potential suitors.

I agree, why not just release this stuff AFTER kawhi is traded.

Wonder if a trade is close and the Spurs released this so Spurs fans wouldn't be angry at them and instead happy that he's gone.

That's the first thing that came to my mind too. Lavar, Uncle Dennis and LeBron will be interesting.

[dlts20]

Why does everyone assume that everything the Spurs are doing is on the up and up? I really don't trust them. They want robots and Kawhi won't conform.

[aznsk91]

Lmao you must be joking... Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man.


If Kawhi wanted all this drama over, literally all he has to do is just come out and say something... ANYTHING... and this would all be over. But he hasn’t. And he won’t. Because his sleezy, money-hungry Uncle is running the show behind closed doors. And he’s on the verge of running his nephew’s career and reputation into the ground, just as it was taking off. Sad.

this is just in regards to this quote "Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man."

I believe the reason there are such contradictory reports is because they are all coming from different sources; laker camp, kawhi camp, and the spur camp.

off the top of my head, there have been reports that:

"kawhi prefers the clippers over lakers"
"kawhi doesn't want to play with Lebron James"
"kawhi would be open to re-signing with the Sixers"
"Boston has made offers for kawhi"
"spurs are asking for Ingram, kuzma, hart, and 4 first round picks from the lakers" or the whole if "BI or Kuzma is offered, spurs would take it" (one of these should be from the spurs)

you're telling me that the spurs are not responsible for any of these reports? ALL of these reports are made to increase kawhi's trade value

Yeah but what's wrong with the Spurs leaking stuff to increase Kawhi's trade value?
That's what they need to do to fulfill his wish of being traded. There weren't any leaks of the sort until well after he demanded a trade through the press. That doesn't screw Kawhi over at all, it actually helps him get what he wants.
Conversely, however, his camp leaking stuff that kills his trade value is screwing the Spurs over.

I didn't say it was wrong....in the above quote I mentioned, the poster basically claimed the spurs don't leak any information to reporters...I was simply claiming that they do, not that this was wrong

EVERYONE has their own agenda and cares about their own personal interests above all.

thus, of course the spurs would leak info that increases kawhi's trade value (good for spurs)
of course the lakers would leak info that decreases kawhi's trade value (good for lakers)
and of course kawhi's camp would leak info that puts him in a positive light/gets him to his team of choice/probably wouldn't want to deplete the team he is.traded to of all of its assets. (good for kawhi)

again, I am not saying anyones wrong, I'm just stating what is probably happening

[CIN-C-STAR]

And for everyone grouping this in with all the anonymous leaks -- this isn't even the same thing.
This is a career NBA journalist going on record saying this stuff. That's not even remotely the same as "League sources," which could be anybody and presents no accountability.
If you're just ignoring this report and choosing to blame the Spurs anyway, it's just because you want to, not because it makes sense.

[CIN-C-STAR]

this is just in regards to this quote "Kawhi's camp and the Lakers have been leaking information nonstop over the past few weeks to diminish his trade value. Literally nonstop. You kidding me? And a Spurs beat writer releases ONE article defending the Spurs by stating facts and this is your take? Unreal. Take off your blinders my man."

I believe the reason there are such contradictory reports is because they are all coming from different sources; laker camp, kawhi camp, and the spur camp.

off the top of my head, there have been reports that:

"kawhi prefers the clippers over lakers"
"kawhi doesn't want to play with Lebron James"
"kawhi would be open to re-signing with the Sixers"
"Boston has made offers for kawhi"
"spurs are asking for Ingram, kuzma, hart, and 4 first round picks from the lakers" or the whole if "BI or Kuzma is offered, spurs would take it" (one of these should be from the spurs)

you're telling me that the spurs are not responsible for any of these reports? ALL of these reports are made to increase kawhi's trade value

Yeah but what's wrong with the Spurs leaking stuff to increase Kawhi's trade value?
That's what they need to do to fulfill his wish of being traded. There weren't any leaks of the sort until well after he demanded a trade through the press. That doesn't screw Kawhi over at all, it actually helps him get what he wants.
Conversely, however, his camp leaking stuff that kills his trade value is screwing the Spurs over.

I didn't say it was wrong....in the above quote I mentioned, the poster basically claimed the spurs don't leak any information to reporters...I was simply claiming that they do, not that this was wrong

EVERYONE has their own agenda and cares about their own personal interests above all.

thus, of course the spurs would leak info that increases kawhi's trade value (good for spurs)
of course the lakers would leak info that decreases kawhi's trade value (good for lakers)
and of course kawhi's camp would leak info that puts him in a positive light/gets him to his team of choice/probably wouldn't want to deplete the team he is.traded to of all of its assets. (good for kawhi)

again, I am not saying anyones wrong, I'm just stating what is probably happening

Personally I think trying to force a trade from the team you are still under contract with, to a rival team, AND trying to ensure that the rival team doesn't have to part with anything to get you, is wrong.
It violates the spirit of the contract, and in fact violates the letter of the contract.
You're just trying to say everyone is equally liable in the situation, I get it, but I think you are dead wrong.

[Jedi32]

It's gotten to the point where it's just too hard to side with and defend Kawhi on this stuff. It seems like all these stories that have come out about Kawhi this past year has turned out to be true. He and his people just seem like way too much of a headache to deal with.

How do you know the stories are true though?

[CIN-C-STAR]

It's gotten to the point where it's just too hard to side with and defend Kawhi on this stuff. It seems like all these stories that have come out about Kawhi this past year has turned out to be true. He and his people just seem like way too much of a headache to deal with.

How do you know the stories are true though?

Because a professional basketball reporter who's job it is to cover the Spurs went on record and said those things were true, with his career at stake?
Or, you know, you could just believe whatever you want because "It's possible" that's true instead.

[TheBrooklynKidd]

Kill me

10/10 username btw.

[Bolivar]

Why does everyone assume that everything the Spurs are doing is on the up and up? I really don't trust them. They want robots and Kawhi won't conform.

They just want people who act like decent human beings and Kawhi won't conform.