Inside The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Disaster

Inside The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Disaster

Kawhi Leonard’s tenure in LA has been an absolute disaster for the Clippers. Now, Baxter Holmes has a piece for ESPN where he breaks down all the ways that things have fallen short of the expectations that existed when Kawawaii first arrived in LA. I’m Trevor Lane. This is the Basketball Bulletin back in action. Let’s go. Let’s dive into this piece. I want to break down some really big stuff that comes out of this. And frankly, a lot of it is pretty shocking. If you haven’t done so yet, please make sure you do subscribe to the channel. Uh, so this starts off telling the story of Steve Balmer when he first purchased uh the Clippers for what now looks like an absolute bargain, $2 billion. And you compare that to the 10 $10 10 billion valuation that the Lakers just had when the majority stake uh was sold to Mark Walter. We saw what 6 billion for the Boston Celtics. Franchise valuations soaring around the NBA. So 2 billion at that point was a record deal. raised some eyebrows, but is I think a bargain at this point. So essentially, Balmer said, “Look, we’re going to win championships. That’s what we want.” He said, “I’ll boldly say the Clippers will win many, many more Larry’s,” talking about the Larry O’Brien trophy in the next 26 years than they did in the last 26. Well, maybe that’s a little bit of a low bar because the number of Larry O’Brien trophies the Clippers had won to at that point, as well as at this point, it is zero. Bomber possessed unmatched monetary resources. And this is really the heart of all of this. In fact, when we look at the existence of Steve Balmer, this is part of the reason why the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement exists the way that it is in terms of when we talk we talk about the first apron, the second apron, the penalties, the punishments that are involved. Why are they so targeted at roster building when in the past there they had been targeted at the wallet of ownership? The reason why they had to make that shift was not just because of Steve Bomber, but certainly in part because of Bomber. Why? because his wallet is bulletproof. He has so much money he could buy every team in the NBA. That’s how much money he is so far beyond anybody else in the NBA in terms of wealth that he could do whatever he wants. And so when you talk about penalties that target the wallet of ownership, well, it doesn’t matter to Steve Bonner. So those penalties aren’t penalties at all to him. They’re not restrictions at all to him. So instead, you have to hurt him with something he does care about. Uh because he doesn’t need to care about the money part of it. hurt him in a way that would prevent the team from actually building out the roster. So, when we look at the deepest pockets that he’s got, well, it’s it’s changed the way that the NBA is running. Uh, all right. So, 11 years later, Balmer’s biggest and most ambitious bet to deliver on that championship has failed on the court. During the six season since the Clippers blockbuster 2019 acquisition of Kawhi Leonard, the team has won just three playoff series. All right, that failure extends further because from nearly the moment Leonard signed in LA, Bomber and the team have drawn unprecedented and serious scrutiny from the league office and the rest of the NBA. You can see what is going to be described here is basically a tugof-war between the Clippers doing what Kawhai wants and the Clippers following NBA rules. And those two things have often not gone together. And that is a big part of why the Clippers find themselves in the situation they’re in, which if you’ve been under a rock over the last few weeks or so, you know that the NBA is investigating the Clippers once again because of Pablo Tor’s uh podcast in which multiple podcasts now at this point in which he has uncovered some information that may suggest that the Clippers and Kawaii and in dealing with this third company aspiration were maybe avoiding, let’s say, the rules of the NBA’s salary cap a collective bargaining agreement and funneling extra money to Kawhi Leonard that way, which would be I I mean, if this turns out to be true, if the NBA finds evidence and they find the Clippers are guilty of this and Kawhi Leonard is guilty of this, Donnie talked about it. I believe it was yesterday, um the penalties could be absolutely staggering. I mean, we could be talking about Kawhi Leonard not being a Clipper anymore. Like, his contract could be voided. The Clippers could be prohibited from signing him. He could have to return the money. I I mean the the Clippers could face many many many draft picks could be taken away from the Clipper. Like this could be catastrophic if they’re found guilty of this. That’s why all of this is such a big topic. Um the Clippers have faced two separate lawsuits alleging tampering violations involving Leonard. If you remember during like the Raptors games and stuff like that uh back when Kawhai was with Toronto, the Clippers made their presence pretty known. Uh, at that point the the Clippers have been fined at least twice by the NBA for violation of league rules involving Leonard. And there have also been at least three NBA investigations into the Clippers involving Leonard. The shadow of the latest one, which I just talked about, uh, is still hovering over the Clippers right now. Ever heard of the Sleeper app? Well, here’s a little secret. It’s more than just a platform for seasonlong fantasy leagues. This year, millions of users enjoyed playing fantasy sports on Sleeper. But the app offers so much more. There’s live stats, real-time updates, and visualization on all stats. There’s a news feed where you can get lightning fast updates on your favorite players and teams, and a real-time chat where you can engage with other users about individual plays and performances during the NFL and NBA seasons. So, download the number one sports app and experience it yourself today. And when you do, use promo code bulletin and you’ll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s terms of use for details. Currently operational over 25 states. Check out Sleeper today. The team centerpiece is Kawhi Leonard. Yes, they made a bunch of moves over the the summer. They added Chris Paul. They added Bradley Beal. They added Brook Lopez. Look, I’ve talked about it before. I think that with within the confines of not wanting to take any deals going past two years onto their books. I think the Clippers did about as well as you could expect this summer. They added significant pieces. Are they a very old team? Absolutely. They’re going to have to invest a lot into Advil, ibuprofen, Ben Gay, whatever it is that they need in order to get through Icy Hot, I suppose, in order to get through the season. This is a very, very old team, but also a very small window for this team. They know in two years they’re going to pivot one way or another. They’re going to pivot. Their team’s going to look very different. This is a two-year window with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, and they will look significantly different um in 2027. Perhaps even as early as the summer in 2026, unless all this stuff doesn’t go the way they want, then their team could look very, very different in November. We’ll see. Uh the team centerpiece remains Kawhi Leonard. Several rival executives said the Clippers initial investment in Leonard, though it came at what was deemed a steep cost, was a smart move that any team would have made. But looking back, the deal was an effing disaster. Yeah, look, I don’t fault the Clippers for making the move to get Kawhi Leonard. I I don’t fault them for for doing what they did, and we’re going to get into that in just a second. I think most teams would have made that decision, especially with the context of the Lakers in LA. That was a big part of that decision for the Clippers to give up what they gave up in order to go get Kawawaii. And we’re going to get into that in just a moment. This last investig This is, I mean, hit the nail on the head. This last investigation is different. This one directly calls into question Steve Balmer’s character, right? Because it’s alleging that he’s going around NBA rules doing shady underhanded stuff in order to get Kawhi Leonard to the Clippers at some point. Quote, Steve has got to get out of the Kawawaii business. That’s coming. I would be surprised at this point if the Clippers did anything to keep Kawawaii after his deal expires in two. Let’s say all this stuff blows over two years from now. Is Kawhi Leonard still a Clipper? No, probably not. Probably not. They they need to move on. The franchise, the organization, they need to move on and clear the air around them and sort of take back this this team. All right, let’s get into this. July 5th, 2019, Clippers executives sat together in a conference room. The walls were thin. Anxiety was high. For days, everybody had been worried that the superstar free agent that they’ve been chasing for years, the player they believed could instantly transform their franchise, would at the last minute scorned them for the Lakers. Again, that was a big part of that decision. They had met with Leonard 4 days earlier uh and learned that he would sign with the Clippers that they acquired Paul George from OKC. So they traded Shay Gilis Alexander. Yep. The reigning defending MVP, Danilo Gallalinari, and five five first round picks, two pick swaps for Paul George. Now, keep in mind again, they knew that they were only getting Kawhi if they got Paul George. So really from the Clippers side, they looked at that trade, which by the way is one of the most disastrous trades now in NBA history given what that has turned into. That sh that SJ has become the MVP that the Thunder have won a championship that uh they got JDub and Jaylen Williams, they they got him in that deal too, an All-Star that they still have draft capital coming their way from that trade. It is one of the greatest trades from the Thunderside, one of the worst trades of all time from the Clippers side. But in that moment, you didn’t know that every trade is a risk. You didn’t know that. And in that moment, the Clippers were not really just trading for Paul George. They were also trading for Kawhi Leonard. And they were doing it in order to keep him away from the Lakers. The Clippers decided that what they couldn’t allow to happen is Kawhai not only to say no to them, but say no to them and then join the Lakers and have to watch Kawhai play for the Lakers from then until he retired. So they were number one on the optimistic side hoping that Kawaii would win championships for them, but number two they were trying to play defense and keep Kawawaii from going to the Lakers. They were trying to accomplish both goals with that trade. All right. Bomber was concerned about the number of draft picks given up as anybody should be and some staffers feared the deal would have ramifications similar to the Brooklyn Nets Boston Celtics swap where the Celtics acquired three first round picks for uh Paul or Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and that ultimately set the Clippers or the Celtics up for the next decade yielding them Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and leading to a championship. Ironically that is basically exactly what happened for the Thunder. The Thunder traded away Paul George won a championship. Celtics traded away Paul Pierce won a champ apparently traded away a guy named Paul and you you win championships as long as you can get the other team to pay way too much. Uh the Nets meanwhile went nowhere in that deal. Yep. Acquiring George was one of several requests. All right, here we go. Let’s get into the meat of this. Made by Leonard and his camp led by the infamous Uncle Dennis Robertson who outlined a series of asks for the Clippers. Those requests, get ready to laugh. Those requests included part ownership of the team, access to a pro. Wait, part ownership of the team. A player can’t own a team. Oh man, he wanted an ownership stake. Could you imagine? Imagine if you could give up an ownership stake of the team as part of a player’s contract. Imagine that. How much how much of a let let’s say a what 27 year old LeBron was on the market. What percentage of a team would somebody give up in order to get that guy? Could you imagine part ownership of the team to Kawhi Leonard? Access to a private plane, a house, and get this guaranteed offc court endorsement money. Huh. That’s quite a aspiration for them to have. Just saying. Just saying. Pun obviously intended. But check this out. The Toronto Star reported that on September 9th, Robertson also asked the Raptors for ownership stakes in outside companies. Oh, fine. I can’t own the team. Then give me other stuff I can own as part of this deal. This is insane. Uh, and corporate sponsorship deals in which Leonard wouldn’t have to do anything in return for the money. Wait, what? What’s that? He asked corporate sponsorship deals in which Leonard wouldn’t have to do anything in return for the money. You say I don’t know. Maybe like working for a company that plants trees but not actually planting any trees. Not actually marketing them at all. Maybe like that. That there seems to be a pattern here. Wow. These verbal requests fell outside the boundaries of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. While the Clippers didn’t say yes to them, they did say yes to others. For example, Robertson wanted Leonard to be able to live in San Diego rather than LA, which is where Kawhai went to school. Uh Leonard would commute via helicopter and he later moved to Los Angeles. Clipper said, “Okay, all right. I mean, that’s whatever. That’s fairly normal, right?” Uh he wanted Leonard to remember, if you guys remember Philip Rivers when he played for the Chargers and the Chargers went up to LA and then he had the the Rivers Mobile and all that, like that that that’s no big deal. He wanted Leonard to be able to skip some media obligations and team community events. Clippers agreed. He wanted the team to promise to market Leonard individually. The Clippers agreed. He wanted Leonard to be able to bring some of his own people into the organization. The Clippers agreed. Now, are any of those things necessarily red flags? I mean, no. A lot of teams do what they can to try to help out their star level players and things like that, but I think it is kind of setting up this pattern where the Clippers just continue to bend over backwards uh to do everything they can to appease Kawhi Leonard. But at some point uh and I think we’re probably here at some point the juice isn’t worth the squeeze and and I think that’s kind of where we’re at at this point. Most importantly, Robertson said there would need to be strict protocol about how to talk to Leonard publicly and this talk about Leonard publicly and this actually got the Clippers in trouble. that has that was to say nothing unless absolutely necessary which is funny because it kind of reflects uh Kaw’s overall personality in which he really doesn’t say very much. Uh rival head coaches told ESPN the last request is not unusual and the Clippers seeking to establish themselves as a star or star friendly organization agreed. They badly wanted Leonard. They even fired one of their own broadcasters Bruce Bowen in 2018 after he made what they viewed as negative comments about Leonard. They’re very careful to sort of craft the message around Kawhi Leonard. Uh an earthquake hit when Leonard and Paul George signed. Maybe it was an omen. Uh I don’t know. Uh when Leonard was signed and and Paul George was traded for. I remember that night. That was absolutely insane. It was bonkers. Nobody saw that coming. That was the infamous Patrick Beverly being in Las Vegas for summer league, jumping up on I’m paraphrasing, but jumping up on a table and celebrating and at a restaurant in LA in Vegas and and all that, but excitement swept over the Clippers franchises. But multiple franchise, but most multiple sources say a separate emotion being in creeping uh into the organization and the feeling was fear. That is indeed a terrifying sight right there. Now, this is not something that’s necessarily unusual. As the article notes from Baxter Holmes, uh, NBA teams have long lived in fear of upsetting their stars, a sentiment that predates Leonard’s arrival in Los Angeles and is prevalent across the league. Given the Clippers past and the future they hoped to forge, that dynamic was compounded. The Clippers were desperate to prove they knew how to accommodate star players, which is again what the Lakers have long been known for. So, the Clippers constantly been in the Lakers shadow and are trying to prove that they’ve been on that same level. And part of all of this was about not allowing Kawhai to go to the Lakers. U just eight games into Leonard’s first season, one of the Clippers first promises to be silent when it came to his health was tested. He sat out a game for load management due to an undosed knee injury. Um and in this situation, then Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Leonard feels great. And then soon after, the Clippers received a call from a reporter seeking comment after learning that Leonard’s health wasn’t so great. the NBA looked into it and found out that Kawhai was actually injured and it was more significant than the team was saying and they were fined 50 grand. So essentially, you’ve got the Clippers who are understandably being asked about Kawhai’s health. Hey, he’s sitting out. How is he? Is he okay? Is he healthy or not? What’s going on? And the Clippers say because they have been told by Kawhai, no, no, no. Or Kawhai’s camp, don’t say anything. The Clippers say, oh, he’s great. He’s fine. Everything’s everything’s wonderful. when it’s not and they can’t do that. And so then the NBA investigates and they find out the Clippers are actually not telling the truth about his health. So the Clippers are kind of caught in the middle here where Kawhai is saying, “Don’t say anything. Do not talk about my my health or my status.” And the NBA rules say, “Well, you have to give updates on players and you can’t falsify those. You have to tell the truth about these situations.” So you’ve got this sort of tugof-war with the Clippers caught in the middle between league rules and Kawi Leonard and they’re stuck trying to walk this very very fine line. Now the Clippers had watched from afar how Leonard’s tenure with the Spurs had ended because of a rift over how to manage his health and they didn’t want to go down that path as well. Uh the Spurs believed after consulting with medical experts that the that Leonard’s condition was degenerative and irreversible and Leonard’s camp disagreed. That was part of what led to the split between Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs. Kawhi Leonard requested a trade in 2018 with two years left on his deal and he wound up going to the Raptors and then winning a championship uh in Toronto. Demard Rosen in that deal went to the San Antonio Spurs. And the way that Kawhai left San Antonio was actually kind of scary for the Clippers. the Spurs were the most respected, maybe the most respected or revered sport uh pro sports team in America. One former Clipper staffer said it was like if this guy was willing to tell those people to go f themselves, he can’t possibly be afraid to tell us to go f ourselves. Everybody was afraid of Kawhai leaving. So the whole time the organization is operating like they have to walk on eggshells, right? That in fear. Don’t upset Kauaii otherwise he’s going to request a trade from here too and we can’t have that. we invested all of this to get Kawaii. This has to work. So, everybody being very, very careful what they say. And so, according to this, Kawaii was actually happy that the Clippers had withheld information and had even gotten fined, saying that the Clippers did what they were supposed to do essentially. Instead, was upset with the NBA and that the NBA had fined the Clippers over that. And Kawhi gave a state gave a statement about that saying, “I’m not a guy who reads the media anyway. We’re going to manage it the best way that we can to keep me healthy.” The find was disappointing. Feels like they want players to play if they’re not ready. I think they just want teams to be forthcoming about what the injury is and what fans can expect. I think that’s an important thing. As well as I mean, let’s face it, what betting markets and things like that can expect as well. Can is a player actually going to play or not? That’s not information that the NBA wants teams to be withholding. Uh so Rivers is in a complicated situation just like the Clippers having to straddle that line between protecting Leonard and his request for uh scrutiny and respecting the league’s league’s need for transparency. The league the NBA does not want load management to be a thing. They want their players to play as long as they’re healthy to do so. Um he answered, “I’m scared to answer when asked about Kawhai uh and and how they’re going to handle the situation. That’s my answer. I just won’t answer because they’re stuck. League rules say one thing. Kawawaii’s telling them something else and they’re I don’t know what to do. That’s the situation that they’re in. I don’t know what to say. I can’t say anything without somebody being mad at me. And then you’ve got this. The situation caused extreme angst within the medical department. It was like the Clippers medical staff wasn’t really allowed to touch Kawaii ever. There was heightened sensitivity. Everyone was so uptight telling you uptight. I mean uptight. Kawawaii is an elite player. Uh, one clipper sta staffer said, “And admired teammate who made significant contributions. We treat Kawhai the same way way with the same respect we do all our players and staff. Unfortunately, he’s battled injuries. We’re grateful he’s part of our team and look forward to the start of training camp.” So, that’s the Clippers official statement there, which not surprised. You know, they’re going to stick with the the standard line. All right. So, Kawhi entered the next season 23 24 eligible for a contract extension. Because of that, he could wield leverage. Leonard had been eligible for a 4-year 220 or the Clippers had had leverage, $220 million contract extension. But if Leonard was seeking a better deal, he had to threaten to test the free agent market and any prospective team would want a thorough medical examination, including any information that Leonard and his camp had sought to keep private. The medical information could in the hands of another team be leaked. And so that actually gave the Clippers leverage over Kawaii in that negotiation because they said, “Hey, you don’t want your medical info out there. If another team is going to threaten to sign you if you’re going to consider going elsewhere, they’re going to want to do a medical exam and you go do that.” That other team might leak the info. You know, we’re not going to. We’ve been fined for not saying enough about your medical info. So, hey, how about you stay here? How about you not worry about other teams? How about you just focus on staying here and we’ll keep all your information private? Um, as one team source told ESPN, “We know what’s under the hood.” Yeah, that’s that’s that’s not great. He wound up getting a three-year $153 million deal. And then in March of 2024, he g began to get inflammation. Uh, and Leonard played just two games in the Clippers sixgame series loss to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. it the was the fourth straight Clippers postseason marred by either a Leonard injury or his absence because of one. So everything the Clippers pushed these chips into the the center of the table in order to get Kawhai and then every time they really needed Kawhai come playoff time, he was not available. When he’s been available in the playoffs, he’s been incredible, but he’s largely been unavailable. And then after that, he wanted to play for Team USA. But get that, this is where it gets crazy. So Kawhai wanted to play for Team USA, but given Leonard’s knee inflammation, officials weren’t sure whether he’d be healthy enough. It wasn’t until the end of June, that they learned that Leonard had undergone a procedure on that knee two months earlier, early May, which wouldn’t become public for several months. Team USA officials were shocked to learn about the procedure after the fact, especially with training camp slated to open in early July in Las Vegas. So everybody was going to report to Team USA and then Team USA, who had been counting on Kawhi Leonard, had planned on him being part of the team, found out, oh, he had this procedure done. Yeah. It was like two months ago, and they just never told anybody about it. I mean, look, during the offseason that happens with NBA players. There was a situation with Jared Vanderbilt where he had double foot surgery a couple summers ago and then we didn’t find out about it for months. That kind of stuff happens during the off season. But you would think Team USA, who is counting on you to be there, would have been informed of this situation. Except they weren’t. And ultimately, Team USA said, “Well, you’re not 100%. You’re not healthy, so go home. We can’t have you here.” And so Derek White wound up replacing Kawhi Leonard. And the team won the gold medal. And Derek White played pretty well for Team USA. Lawrence Frank said told uh reporters that he was very disappointed by Kawhai not being able to play and Leonard wanted to play and that when he was there he looked healthy. He was asked if Leonard had undergone any type of procedure or treatment to his knee prior to camp and he declined to comment saying he wasn’t going to get into specifics. Again, the Clippers just they can’t be forthcoming with information on what Kauaii’s health is because they’re caught in this difficult spot. Then we’ve got this whole Randy Shelton situation. A former Clipper strength and conditioning coach that has long-standing ties with Kawhi Leonard. Uh had a working relationship with Leonard dating back to his days at San Diego State more than a decade earlier. Alleged the team tampered to acquire Leonard and then want wrongfully terminated him for raising issues about how the teams managed Leonard’s health. He even alleged that Leonard had suffered at least one injury in his right ankle that the team never disclosed publicly, which obviously a big big no no. Later, he alleged that Robertson, Uncle Dennis, had even negotiated his contract and had asked for 10% of his Clippers salary, saying, “Give me 10% of your salary or you can’t join the Clippers.” This coercion, coupled with Robertson’s widely reported control over the Clippers organization through his relationship with Kawhi, raises significant concerns of duress and undue influence. So, Uncle Dennis, his influence on the Clippers, already asking for crazy things that go outside the NBA’s rules. The team fired Shelton in July 2023 when the team stated it became apparent that he was not willing to perform the job for which the Clippers had hired him. Instead, took it upon himself to render advice for those who had not sought it and were not qualified to give. The the bottom line is that it does sound like based on the reporting here that this guy Randy Shelton, this trainer, he was uh overstepping his bounds, offering information that he probably shouldn’t have been. But the Clippers, uh, when they investigated, rather than fire him for these things, they tried to minimize his impact and limit the amount of information that he was actually privy to because they didn’t want to fire him and then have him as one of Kawhai’s guys get create a rift between the team and Kawhi Leonard. So, in other words, the team was so concerned that they’ve got somebody who’s overstepping their bounds, who’s not doing their job properly, according to the Clippers side of it, and they’re so worried that because this is one of Kawhai’s people here, we don’t want to fire him and then risk creating a rift with Kawhi Leonard. Again, the Clippers doing everything they can to appease Kawhi Leonard. That’s why I think part of why I think when all the dust settles and Kawhai finally leaves the Clippers, it may wind up being like a breath of fresh air. And I think it also begs the question, I if the NBA were to just come and void Kawhai’s contract, which is kind of what they did in the Joe Smith situation what 25 years ago, would that even be a negative for the Clippers or would that be like a breath of fresh air for them? Would they actually be happy about that? Is that really a punishment at all for the Clippers if Kawhai’s contract is voided? He’s certainly worth $50 million when he’s on the floor, which is what he’s making over the next two seasons. 50 million and then 50 million again. Not quite exactly. He’s actually making 50 million next season and 50.3 million the season after that. But nonetheless, uh, would that even be a punishment if the NBA were to void Kawhai’s contract? I don’t know. I mean, I think you can make the argument as to no. So, what’s the alternative? Could you void his contract so they don’t have the player and then leave the cap hit on the books? Could you leave a cap hit on the books of so the Clippers wouldn’t have added flexibility? Could you leave a cap hit of the amount that he got from aspiration on the Clippers books? Maybe something like that because I don’t know that voiding Kawawaii’s contract at this point would even be a negative for the Clippers. Not only just in terms of is he worth $50 million, but in terms of would this clear the air around the organization if he were to just go. I think it’s a it’s an interesting thought there. But Shelton said the Clippers first contacted him in 2017. Yeah, he was still a San Antonio Spur. Then when he was under contract with the Spurs and suffered an ankle injury against the Warriors, Shelton said a Clippers executive, Mark Hughes, contacted him to seek private health information about Leonard and express the need for discretion. Why would you need discretion? Yeah, because it’s against NBA rules. You can’t have people from one team contacting uh personnel to get information about players that are under contract with another team. can’t do that. And that’s what what Shelton is saying happened that they talked 15 times on the phone and had at least seven meetings. Why? Because the Clippers were setting up a run at Kawhi Leonard that was going to happen years later. Now, one former Clippers staffer was asked if tampering rules were violated and said, “Everybody tampers.” That may be true when we talk about free agency. Do teams contact players ahead of time or is, you know, are back channels used and things like that? Do teams really come to agreements with players moments after the buzzer sounds for the start of free agency and they haven’t had any kind of discussions beforehand? Probably not. I think the NBA, if they’re being adults about it, they know that, too. But not everybody goes to these extremes when it comes to tampering to years in advance of the player hitting free agency, finding out medical info about them. The team cannot possibly want the NBA opening its cupboards cupboards again. I’m telling you that is bad. It makes you wonder really if all of this stuff is what we are now finding out, what we know about the way the Clippers have been operating, what don’t we know? Like what are the things that they what are the other things that the team doesn’t want the NBA looking into when they open their cupboards? That’s that’s a scary thought. uh reports started gathering. This was just an anecdote about Kauaii working out and how they tried to control the information and made the media not film Kauaii working out after he had been out uh for a number of time. Uncle Dennis uh was stopped the media from filming. Just Kawhai constantly trying to control the information that’s around him. Even he faked like he was going to shoot and then when he saw the media was watching him, he stopped. Uh, and then Uncle Dennis made the media leave, made the Clippers make the the media uh, not film him uh, shooting, which by the way is totally normal. If media are in the building and they see a player who hasn’t been playing for an extended period of time off to the side working out, they’re going to get pictures of it. They’re going to want to see how the guy is. They’re going to take film of it. U,, but Kawawaii didn’t want that information out there. Uncle Dennis uh, was uh, in the Raptors Championship photo, the only family member to be there. And then this was a situation where the Clippers had listed Kawhai as out had listed him out multiple times on the injury report uh in 2025 back in January and then suddenly he’s playing. A reporter Chris Haynes tweeted that he was playing and then the Clippers PR account posted an update saying he had been upgraded to questionable and then Tyoo uh said nothing changed. He was in the whole time but I didn’t want to hear from all these media guys so I tried to protect myself as long as I could. So, in other words, the Clippers knew Kawhai was playing. That’s what Tyler just admitted. The Clippers knew Kawhai was playing and just continued to list him as out because they didn’t want to take questions about him. You can’t do that. You can’t know a player is playing and lie about it on your injury report. You can’t do do it. And then Tailoo just said, “I can’t remember.” when asked for for details on the situation, when asked what this minutes restriction would be. Bottom line, the farthest the Clippers have advanced is the West Finals in 2021. They famously blew a 3-1 series lead in 2020 uh against the Denver Nuggets in the second round. And SGA, on the other hand, has been an MVP. Oklahoma City has won a championship. The picks that they owe are still in the are still still paying off for OKC and the Clippers are in a precarious position again due to the investigation that everybody has been buzzing about. Kawhi, I love this for now. Letter remains under contract for two more seasons. The Clippers don’t control their first round pick in the next four years. They’re unprotected first in 2026. Go to the Thunder and they have the right to swap first round picks with the Clippers in 2027. that will help the Thunder sustain a potential dynastic run built around the players the Clippers gave up in hopes of building their own dynasty. Multiple GMs and other league executives said they expect Leonard to play out his contract with the Clippers. But even then, even uh then they’re done building around Kawawaii. They know that and he knows that. All right. Ultimately, closing the book um that everybody’s just waiting to be closed. We all know that this has been a disaster for Kawaii, a disaster for the Clippers. It has not worked out at all the way they did. I don’t fault them for doing what they did. Even with hindsight, you knew why they were doing what they were doing. Every trade, every move you make is a gamble. Yeah. Look, this the the Celtics thought they made a good deal getting Gordon Hayward. Game one, he horrifically breaks his ankle, right? Foot was pointing the wrong direction. Like there is an unpredictability to this game. That’s just sports. But this has really not worked out for the Clippers. And now it’s done. It’s over. The Kawhi Leonard situation with the Clippers, it’s over. Whether that happens via the NBA stepping in, avoiding his contract because this latest aspiration mess, or it happens because Kawhi’s contract runs out in a couple of years. Either way, the Kawhi Leonard’s era in LA, it’s done. It’s over. The clock is ticking. Everybody knows what’s going to happen. And two years from now, one way or another, maybe sooner, Kawhi Leonard won’t be a Clipper anymore. And this team is going to pivot. This organization is going to pivot and they’re going to go another direction. In the meantime, they’ll try to win with the pieces they’ve got. as old as they may be, they’re going to try to win with the pieces they’ve got. And who knows, maybe it works out for them. But the lifespan of the Kawhi Leonard era with the Clippers, it’s coming to an end. All right, everybody. I appreciate you hanging out with me while we went through what a mess this whole situation has been. Please make sure you do subscribe to the channel and give me your thoughts in the comments down below. What should happen? How should this all come to an end for Kawaii and the Clippers? Till next time everybody.

In this video Trevor Lane breaks down the disaster that has been Kawhi Leonard’s tenure with the Clippers…

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