Two years later as the Los Angeles Lakers tried to sign Robertson’s nephew, Kawhi Leonard, they were convinced the uncle doing Leonard’s negotiating either hadn’t heard of any of the NBA’s rules or had just decided they didn’t apply.
And the impression he left was not a good one.
Leonard didn’t just want a max deal. He wanted unlimited access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court earnings from endorsements, The Athletic previously reported. He also wanted a slice of the team itself — just like the Lakers had given Magic Johnson 25 years earlier after HIV forced him into early retirement.
The asks — all considered circumvention of the salary cap in the eyes of the NBA — were turned down by the team.
But Robertson asked for them again. And again. And again.
The Lakers repeatedly told Robertson that his requests were against the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Outside of the negotiations, team sources said, the Lakers laughed at Robertson’s audacity. And to Robertson himself, team president Jeanie Buss underscored the outrageousness of the requests by saying he should attempt to get other teams to agree to his terms in writing.
Leonard ultimately chose to sign with the LA Clippers in 2019, the team meeting a different demand by trading for co-star Paul George. Those 2019 negotiations led to an investigation by the NBA, which concluded there was no evidence that the Clippers granted any of Robertson’s improper requests.
Now, the dealings by Robertson and Leonard have surfaced again as the superstar forward, the Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer face an investigation about whether the Clippers ran afoul of the league’s salary cap rules. The investigation stems from a previously unannounced endorsement deal with Aspiration, a company with close business ties to the Clippers and Ballmer, that could have netted Leonard close to $50 million, as first reported by Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast earlier this month.
37 comments
yeah, from the lakers they wanted partial ownership, a private jet, guaranteed endorsements, and other impermissible benefits.
but from the clippers, they only wanted Paul George!
Jeanie tried to get Uncle Dennis to Joe Smith himself
one interesting point, an nba agent would never ask for these things (so directly, at least), because they could lose their license. because uncle dennis is certainly not a certified agent he doesn’t really care
Uncle Dennis is what Mr. Krabbs thought he was
Holy shit didn’t realize how Shady of a guy Kawhi was
His whole family is Shady ass people
Yeah I’m sure Kawhi didn’t want any external benefits from the Clipppers, but only from us and the Raptors.
Clippers homers will now call Amick a lakers homer
Ya but Matt Ishbia says there is nothing to see so I believe him. After all, he is a billionaire, why would he lie?
Kawhi I’m starting to think you just want too much my brother. It’s just basketball
**The Lakers repeatedly told Robertson that his requests were against the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Outside of the negotiations, team sources said, the Lakers laughed at Robertson’s audacity. And to Robertson himself, team president Jeanie Buss underscored the outrageousness of the requests by saying he should attempt to get other teams to agree to his terms in writing.**
Jeanie, slyly trying to get Kawhi and Uncle Dennis to incriminate themselves in writing, is so funny lol
I just dont see a smoking gun here folks
Uncle Dennis was trying to prove he’s the lost Buss sibling
Asks the Lakers for the moon, settles for Paul George from the Clippers. Hmm, I’m sure that’s all that it was.
RDAmbition said all this when Kawhi signed with the Clipper and people clowned him.
My queen does not deal with this tomfoolery 👑
Jeanie is all class, Ballmer is a cheating fatass.
It was always impressive to me how the FO pivoted so fast from the Kawhi signing and PG trade to build a contender. Thought they’d stew for a few days before making moves but they seemed prepared and signed Danny Green almost immediately. Brought back Rondo the next day. And signed Bradley immediately after (might have been the day after the Rondo signing.
Maybe they did know they didn’t stand a chance with all this requests and the pivoting had happened earlier than we thought.
And then nephews told you it was because he didnt want to play with Lebron.
the Zaza redemption tour continues.
I’m still under the belief it’s substantially more the fault of the Clippers’ organization to concede to these demands more than it is Kawhi/his uncle’s for asking for outrageous things to begin with, and these attempts to redirect the blame disproportionally onto Kawhi and his uncle feels like some attempt of reducing the blame the Clippers should have in this situation, as well.
What?
No naked pictures of Bea Arthur?
Uncle Dennis is a horrible negotiator.
Just your representative asking should carry consequences if verified imo.
Kawhi is such a shithead. He’s a crook. Which is insane because he’s made almost 500 mil from nba contracts. Goes to show that greed has no bounds
Dude has always wanted to play as little as possible all while getting paid (more than) the maximum and be treated like a superstar. I truly hope the NBA actually does something about this POS. I am doubtful however.
Why blame Kawhi? He doesn’t know any better. He’s only 34 years old.
Did you know he lost his dad right infront of him as a kid?
When silver eventually hands down his punishment for this scandal, at the very least there should be anytime ban for Uncle Dennis. No games, no team facilities, no official capacity with Kawhi. This shit is brazen and insane
Hilarious that he asked for part ownership of the fucking Toronto Maple Leafs to stay as a raptor. Absolutely insane
Welcome to the Uncle Empowerment Era.
All the shit talk about the Lakers FO suddenly looks bad in retrospect. Only a trash tier org would get bullied around like this.
If Kawhi gets a house does Dennis get a room?
Hopefully this kills player empowerment that has eroded the NBA product.
Like a Big Smoke order
Kawhii is really relatable as a person. I too want a private plane, a house, guaranteed off-court earnings and a slice of the Lakers.
Streetlights over spot lights, Rob don’t understand the cba, no one loves you like magic kawhi, you made the beautiful game more ugly and can deal with the consequences/go fuck yourself
“Kawhi should be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. When Kawhi isn’t on the court, all of the other players should ask ‘Where’s Kawhi?'”
Absolutely wild to even ask this. Kawhi ruined his reputation. Sounds like an absolute diva.
I guess this was him the whole time, hiding under the guise of this chill, fun, quiet guy. Spurs were probably the good guys the entire time.
Imagine if people actually gave a fuck about Kawhi. This story would be a million times bigger than it is right now