If it walks like a duck and Uncle Dennis is involved… it most likely quacks

The Spurs are exactly the organization who would tell him to fuck off whole respecting him enough to not throw him under the bus.

That was reported locally but as rumors that he was asking for crazy stuff but no one believed it because his reputation wasn’t like it is now. This was before he requested a trade. Spurs didn’t even want to give him a max because they knew he wouldn’t be able to play full seasons without needing to be load managed because of his tendinopathy. They were so far apart and that’s why he forced his way out. I think on Pablo Torre Finds Out, he reported that the Clippers were talking to Kawhi while he was still on the Spurs also on one of the 1st videos he made about this Aspiration controversy

100%.

Never made sense to me why he would want out from playing under arguably the greatest coach of that generation. Pop seems like a really stand up guy and Kawhi just seemed like an idiot to me for forcing his way out of there

His camp lied about not trusting Spurs doctors, putting our reputation on the line to fill the gap for the need to “leave”. It was no secret his Uncle wanted him in LA. So we shipped his ass out of country. Pop is the one who put him on a contender out of our conference. What Pop didn’t know, was Kawhi and his camp had already taken money from the Clippers while in our uniform BEFORE Toronto. That’s why they made it clear it was a 1 year rental. He was also lobbying for stake in the team, all the while being in our uniform talking about he doesn’t have a degenerative knee disease & throwing the whole god damn city under the bus. Fuck Kawhi Leonard. His blood should be banned from NBA/WNBA & he should be banned from ever playing again. He forced us to rebuild. Now we have the best generational player inside and out that has ever came across any sport. Still FUCK KAWHI THOUGH

It has been known forever that Dennis was trying to muscle his way into a front office job and they weren’t having it. That was what soured the relationship and made Kawhi sit out like a little bitch. As a spurs fan who was pissed off about it when he left, every piece of this saga has been vindication. Fuck Kawhi, ban him from the league.

Bro, the fix was in for the Clippers long before he left the Spurs

That’s why Lawrence Frank spent an entire season going to Toronto games while Kawhi was there

The first cracks in the low-maintenance veneer came in 2016, when Leonard made his first All-Star game — in Toronto of all places.

Leonard and his traveling companions noticed other All-Stars — notably Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook — were using private luxury cars to get around, instead of the standard transportation provided by the NBA. They wanted the star treatment, too.

Leonard’s trip to China in August of 2017 seemed to spark another change in him. Everywhere he went on the NBA ambassador junket, Leonard was mobbed by fans wearing his jersey and other Spurs gear.

“I was surprised at how many Spurs fans there were, for me not ever going out there,” Leonard said upon his return stateside. “It’s just shocking to see how big they support the NBA.”

The experience also stuck with Leonard’s personal management team, including his uncle, Dennis Robertson. His advisers began to see Leonard’s potential as a top-shelf star and global brand.

When Leonard parted ways with his original agent, Brian Elfus, in 2016, Robertson and Mitch Frankel, the player’s new agent, became the primary liaisons in communications with the Spurs.

Robertson’s influence grew steadily after Leonard returned from China. In March, Leonard turned down a $20 million shoe deal to re-up with Jordan Brand. Robertson reportedly believed Leonard — as a borderline MVP candidate — deserved more.

As months wore on, some around the league began to suspect Robertson — now known derisively among some Spurs fans as “Uncle Dennis” — harbored visions that went beyond handling his nephew’s affairs. Multiple agents say he has approached clients about becoming their manager as well.

Source: https://www.expressnews.com/spurs-nation/article/Kawhi-and-the-Spurs-How-it-all-fell-apart-13094522.php

Kawhi destroyed a 62 win team. Just literally left the team.

And not just any team its a team that prided itself on looking after its players coached by pop

Several teams reported kawahi and uncle Dennis for making those demands.

I’m sure they made the demands in San Antonio. Too

I’m pretty sure similar requests were made of the Spurs. I remember many years ago reading a story that Uncle Dennis had demanded a front office job in the organization and other concessions after his 2014 Finals MVP that the Spurs flatly refused.

Yes it started in San Antonio. This was after Kawhi signed his extension and the year after the Finals injury. Kawhi was supposed to return somewhere around Allstar break before trade deadline when requests where made. Spurs said no. Kawhi request to be traded to the Lakers. Spurs said no. Kawhi says hes not ready to return and needs more time to get a 2nd opinion on his injury and treatment. Spurs say OK. Kawhi goes to New York and eventually the Spurs lose contact with Kawhi. Popovich, Duncan and other Spurs brass go up to NYC searching for him. They eventually find him and he says he will return for final 12 or so regular season games but then he flakes out on that. Spurs then trade him to Toronto. Then turns out Ballmer had been reaching out to Kawhi’s people since 2016 or so and hired his trainer years before Kawhi actually gets to LA.

Yes.

Makes sense… And I can really imagine someone like Pop tearing him another asshole because of it and having him out of the team even though he was a monster player.

there was a report that came out around the time Kawhi made one of his first all star appearances with the Spurs that he saw how the superstars were treated around the league, with chauffeur service and nice cars, and he reportedly wanted that treatment provided by the Spurs. For the longest time, I thought that story was bullshit but ever since all this has come to light, maybe it was the first signs of him wanting more.

I do think it was a bit different because while Kawhi was one of the top players, that Toronto run proved he could be the guy to lead a team to the finals. I’m sure his team felt a lot more confident in demands after the Toronto year.

Adam Silver sees all this and says that’s fine. We want him on the Clippers.

We gave him full control over his medicals a year before he even left. We let him decide when to play, and allegedly Ballmer was paying him before he even left us.

Forget about the money atm.

Having a player that you have no idea is not playing because they’re injured or because they’re waiting on cheques to clear is a completely fucked up thing, it makes you question every single moment he is not on the court, with your team and his intentions.

I’m sure Toronto got smoke of this and were behind the scenes glad he didn’t come back. They put on a good show to make it seem like everything was dandy while winning the chip but that is just too much power for one employee to have.

My question is just how much was he making for those grocery store ads?

I’m not sure the rwanda thing is cap circumvention since Kawhi actually did work for them. Teams are allowed to make introductions.

He was brazen about it as if he didn’t care about consequences.

The only way that happens is if he’s not the only player that got it.

Maybe but we’re just guessing at this point

I thought that was the whole reason he would hold out for playing on them

I thought we all just assumed they’ve been asking for this from everyone

I’m pretty sure it was Kirk Goldsberry - but maybe it was someone else (associated with the Spurs) - on one of the Ringer pods, who basically came as close to confirming this as you can without confirming it.

IIRC (and we’re talking, I dunno, almost a year ago, so I may have some of the details wrong) but it was along the lines of “there were some issues with Uncle Dennis” and “nobody in San Antonio was surprised when this came out” which, if you can read between the lines, says to me that Kawhi/Dennis were absolutely trying to get something extra from the Spurs.

Yeah, his former trainer alleged he was colluding with clippers while he was with spurs AND Raps. Suspend his ass. I think the trainer ultimately settled his suit

Could it? It was. This was widely reported on at the time in Spurs circles. Everyone was so thirsty to watch the Spurs downfall that we got ignored

After a decade it feels so get to say it, “TOLD Y’ALL”

follow up question, can kawhi even get suspended? Ive seen brief snippets of the CBA saying that a player cannot be suspended for cap circumvention. Hopefully there is a commissioners list like the NFL where you can be suspended for conduct detrimental to the league. If he is not suspended for all this crap then the league is a joke.

(as an OG Spurs fan) things seemed fine UNTIL Nephew fired his reps & hired the Uncle…. suddenly it went to ish so … It would track that 👉 the ‘demands for his eligible SM were outrageous so Pop said F no & then Nephew HID in NYC from everyone so his butt was kicked to the curb tho he PUBLICALLY said LA it was actually Canada’ ….what a waste thx to his Unc fr

Don’t care to see Leonard or Ben Simmons in the nba ever again, such slackers

Idk why the story isn’t really about Kawhi’s agent (uncle). Sounds like his uncle is just a bum ass agent making deals he shouldn’t be making. Kawhi is complacent in it obviously so he bears some responsibility, but all the narratives and stories are focused WAY more on Kawhi and not his agent uncle

Yes. No salary cap,

We require the spurs to reveal everything, or we send send Wemby to Utah a d you have to sign bolbol

I think Kawhi/Uncle Dennis only felt empowered to do this shit post 2019 finals. At that point, Kawhi was at his absolute peak, 2 finals MVPs with 2 different teams. He had seemingly put to bed his injury concerns from the end of his Spurs days. You gotta remember, once the Clippers got Kawhi and PG, everyone was convinced they were the best team in the league. That same conviction didn’t exist for the Raptors when they got Kawhi the year previous, even though they were the better team all around.

Yes… spurs did it. Raptors did it.

Ignore my flair

Kawhi left San Antonio because of all those big ol women wearing bloomers eating churros.

Kawhi left SA because they pressured him to play while he still felt injured.
He lost trust with the FO, whom the veterans sided with.
Between that and wanting to play as close to home as possible, that relationship was doomed, regardless.
I’d guess that the FA experience of having teams fighting over his services is likely when he first started realizing how far teams will bend over backwards to get him to go there.