He wanted to go home and make more money (under the table). Not about winning more chips.

Probably not cause he got paid a shit ton of extra money and on paper the Clippers were suppose to be good. Add in he wanted to go home too.

Meh, he’s never struck me as a player that’s cared all that much about that.

Thanks for chip.

I have a bias, but from my angle, yes.

People forget how good the title defence team was without him.

Went 7-1 in the bubble, swept the first round of the playoffs, then came down to a couple of plays at the end of Game 7 in the Celtics series. I felt really confident at the time they would’ve beaten Miami in the conference finals after beating them in the bubble, then against the Lakers who they swept in the (shortened) season/bubble.

If Kawhi was there in ‘19-20 they were winning back-to-back and you’ll never convince me otherwise. 🙃

Pretty sure he just wanted to go home

So probably not

The 2019-20 raptors had a 60 win pace without Kawhi. Even after Lowry, Gasol and Ibaka declined, Pascal, OG, Fred and Norm all stepped up. What if man, what if

Winning your 2nd championship, getting your 2nd finals mvp and then going home to LA is a bad decision now?

Kyrie leaving Cavs in 2017

Kawhi’s decision to leave Toronto is the worst decision in human history.

Being totally unbiased here.

KD leaving golden state is probably a bigger mistake.

Dude shoulda leaned into the villain role and continued to win with Steph.

Doing what he did in hindsight was dumb as hell.

the man just wanted to plant trees in peace

It’s KD leaving the warriors then Kawhi leaving the raptors. The raptors had players improving but also had major pieces on the decline where the warriors were all in their prime and in control of their draft assets to withstand KD and Klay taking a year or two off

Kyrie’s antics leading to Harden and Nets big three blowing up was pretty bad. They could’ve had a serious dynasty together.

Westbrook to Lakers was a pretty bad move, although I’m not sure if that was single poor decision from one superstar.

He wanted to get paid and live near his family. For him, it wasn’t.

No, he got paid like an extra $150 million under the table haha

Raptors had a better season record the year after Kawhi.

Kawhi really is a 1 of 1. He is the only player in NBA history to win FVMP then leave right after.

who cares? bro got a chip, was fmvp, and got the bag to go back home and play sometimes. idk what more he could want

It’s only a mistake if you think Kawhi returning to the Finals was his #1 priority.

I dunno. Guy made a lot of money from it.

It wasn’t even the worst mistake of that summer for a star leaving his team. KD’s decision to leave the dubs in retrospect became much much worse

He could be prime minister of Canada and the owner of of the Canada Dry corporation by now if he had just been able to put up with Drake.

He’s made millions of dollars and got to go home. Basketball fans really think championships are everything to these guys, lol.

Considering what he got paid under the table in benefits plus LA over Toronto for endorsement and shoe contract, he made out like a bandit.

To me, it’s always been weird why it’s Ballmer and Clippers at the center of punishment. Kawhi should have had his contract voided, probably paid back what he did make, and black balled from the NBA Pete Rose style

Greedy dumbass wanted to live in La. wait. I want to live in La.

I truly believe these mege deals are done way in advance and Toronto was meant to just be a gap year for Kawhi until he needed to move to LA.

Everything just happened to fall into place for him and somehow he lucked into winning the championship but reality is, he was always meant to go to LA as it had been set way way in advance.

Definitely not a mistake if they gave him all that extra money

Depends on the size of the fine.

Clearly not since he got all those under the table sponsorship deals.

As much as it sucked for him to leave, it was the greatest mercenary season of all time. In one year he gave us everything, and he owed us nothing on the way out.

Board man and his Unc got paid

No it’s not one of the worst mistakes by a superstar.

Like others have said he wanted to be home in SoCal which for a player who had already won two rings and two finals MVPs and nothing left to prove was perfectly reasonable.

And while the Raptors had a great roster and strong coaching around him the Clippers were a pretty solid team in their own right and absolutely could have won a ring if not for Kawhi himself choking in the bubble or the team never having a healthy playoff run after that year.

I’d say Kawhi leaving the Raptors. Another one is Durant leaving the GSW. His NBA career has gone downhill since leaving the Warriors. I believe he has only won 2 playoff rounds since the 2018-19 season.

Hasn’t done much since so, maybe.

Hell no, he made a fuckton of money

Had a chance to repeat but Raptor team was held together by Kawhi, mid level players, and an aging Marc Gasol.

He strikes me as someone that cares more about money than winning chips. He definitely made a lot more money with Ballmer.

He already won, and now he’s set up his family with generational wealth.

Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀ and yes it would’ve been better to stay in Toronto for his legacy, but he did more in 8 years than some players do in 20.

Nah, he went back home to family and got paid several millions to do so. Living in LA is better than living in Toronto as a multi millionaire. And doubtful about multiple rings - the season after COVID, the entire Raptors squad was hurt for prolonged periods of time. Also wasn’t it a logistical nightmare for the Raptors when COVID happened?

Yes

Are you forgetting all his injuries?

Basketball wise obviously. No finals mvp had ever left their team after winning the chip in NBA history. Off the court wise, definitely not, unless he gets punished heavily.

He had great Aspirations.

Yes and no.

If he stayed the Raptors would have almost certainly gone back to back.

But he wanted to go home and get paid more than the salary cap would allow. Whatevs.

I’m biased but he shouldn’t have even left the Spurs

Uncle Dennis man that’s all I gotta say

No lol. Clearly it’s worked out for him

On the court his legacy was cemented. He was just having his way with Clippers unfortunately

Nah, bro had rings and wasn’t about more. He just wanted to amass more wealth and kick it in LA w family and friends. 

Bigger mistake for some guys to rush back from injury to soon.

Or for some players to keep playing too far beyond their prime. Some of those guys have permanent limps and fucked up backs. If they’d hung it up sooner, their quality of life could be vastly improved. I think Dirk might have mentioned something along those lines.

Or maybe Dwight leaving for LA. So horrible for his legacy. Could have been all-time beloved hometown hero for a significant fanbase, still selling jerseys and being involved with the team and community. I’d be surprised if he had more than 100 true fans anymore.

Him saying he wanted to go home was bullshit

Whoever paid the shit under the table got it done

Clearly clippers made it happen 

They definitely could have beat Boston that year and would have been a much better matchup for Miami. Gasol and Ibaka would have done better than Theis and Kanter. Kawhi was at the top of the basketball world, so he could call his shot.

That Clippers team was awesome and if they hadn’t “given up” because of the bubble, it would have been a 7 game cinema against the Lakers for the WCF.

From a strictly basketball perspective, then yes.

As others have said, I think Kawhai didn’t really care about all that anymore. He wanted to be paid a shitload and be close to family.

Yes it was. He could have had maybe one more ring but he chose to be corrupt with Balmer and Clippers (and Uncle Dennis).

Canadian teams always have the disadvantage of currency exchange rate and taxation compared to US teams.

After all the said and done, players who play with Canadian teams are pocketed less money than playing for US teams.

Player could pay as high as 53.5% person income tax when playing for a Canadian team compared to anywhere from 0 to 39.4% of income taxes in the USA.

So, he won the championship and got the ring, move on to make some real money.

Seems like his team & Ballmer cooked up something really fishy and is backfiring on them.

He already won multiple chips and Balmer was going to gift him 100s of millions to stay home, pretty good for him I’d say.

Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀.

But in the moment:

1. He knew he would earn up to a hundred of million more than in Toronto via under the table deals

2. The Clippers team, on paper, also had championship caliber Megumi. And with Kawhi having had the postseason he did, im not blaming him for thinking he could take that team to the finals.

I would say that LeBron forcing the Westbrook trade was a worse mistake. KD joining and leaving GSW were also worst mistakes

If the question is, “Which recent player left multiple titles on the table by changing teams?”, then the answer is not Kawhi.

Might be KD when he left GSW. Might be Shaq when he left the Lakers, though that was really Kobe’s decision and not his.

It the very least, I think still having Kawhi would have got them past the Celtics.

Yes. As long as Kawhi stayed healthy, that Raptors team would have beat the Miami Heat and the Lakers in the finals

I’ve said it a million times, he upset the basketball gods with that move. I think he immediately dried up any possibility of winning another chip in his career

Bro got even more than the supermax. That’s not a mistake, it’s a business decision.

if they was able to keep that core yea but otherwise nah

Yes.

In not biased.

The Raptors had the second best record in the league the next season after losing him and Danny Green

Do we think Kawhi asked for similar things from the Spurs prior to them trading him to the Raptors?

Hayward to Boston was a legacy buster for sure.

Not even the worst decision that summer. Durant leaving GSW to go to Brooklyn was worse. 

Just to emphasize your point, that 53 win season immediately after Kawhi left was in a shortened season. That was the equivalent of a 60 win season if it had been a full 82 games.

That team had the league’s second best record without Kawhi. With him that team makes the 2020 Finals, at minimum, and probably wins.

The 2020 Lakers were really good, but also very top-heavy. Kawhi/OG was a uniquely equipped wing duo to contain LeBron, and you can ask Embiid how much fun AD would have had against Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

Who knows how things turn our after that, but Kawhi leaving a literal title winning team will never not be crazy to me.

Dude got insanely lucky that every single player on the Warriors got injured in that playoffs and he escaped with the championship and said fuck it I’m cashing out. My knees are shot.

Not really, the man just wanted better sponsorships

he wasn’t gonna stay. that was pretty clear.

He had an understanding with the Raptors. He would help them make,a deep run in the playoffs and possibly win a championship, and then he would sign with another team. I don’t think it was a mistake, it just hasn’t worked out for him in LA.

No

Absolutely the biggest mistake, would have won another championship.

It has to be, he probably thought he had a better chance winning more championships back home or just didn’t like the Toronto weather so who knows

He had nothing left to prove at that point. He won one with an amazing spurs team of legends and helped bring one to a franchise with little history ever. At the end of the day his legacy was secured after that win.

No one will accuse him of chasing rings. He had an easy one if he stayed.

He got to go home and made a shit load more money then he would have on Toronto , and the clippers were a legit contender with him and PG on paper

Like heindsight Toronto could have competed more with him. But like we have seen much worse decisions

More recently would have loved to retain pascal 😭

If he was going home he should’ve picked the lakers instead of that cap circumventing poverty franchise

yes

Not. But him returning to Toronto will be one of the biggest mistakes from a team in nba history.

Kawhi was at the top of the basketball world. Beloved in Toronto. Could have been a dynasty.
He and his sketchy uncle Dennis tried to get more than a max contract. Sounds like they did in LA. His career has been downhill ever since. Maybe the NBA needs a mandatory ethics course for their players

One of maybe. The worst? I’m don’t think so. Arguably Lebron to the Lakers was worse. He lost a lot of respect chasing rings. Lost more leaving the Cavs again. Never gained any long term Laker fans except for LeSimps that followed him. He made a bunch of money and won a ship but he will never be the guy anymore

He could’ve had a legacy here

It’s literally not even a thought.

Rapters won because 2 of GSW’s 3 best players were out.

A 4-leaf clover on top of a 4-leaf clover.

He’d have never won again in Toronto, or anywhere else.

If anything, it was a smart move- everything considered.

Welcome to r/nba, where if you’re a player you’re either a ring chaser, or a dumb-dumb for not staying with your team to win more rings.

Leaving Toronto to live in Los Angeles sounds like the best decision anyone could make