Danny Green shares what led to a fallout between Kawhi and Gregg Popovich on the Spurs: “Kawhi’s uncle had a lot to do with it” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When the San Antonio Spurs traded Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in 2018, he was dealt along with sharpshooter Danny Green. In return, the Spurs received DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poelt, and a protected first-round pick.
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It is unclear why Leonard had a falling out with the Spurs, although there are several stories. During his recent appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast, Green told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that he, too, does not know the complete story. However, what he knows is that Leonard’s departure had a lot to do with his uncle.
“I think his uncle, had a lot of what to do of what’s going on, a lot of influence,” said Green. “And once his uncle saw some distasteful things in his mind, it was like, ‘All right, we’re not doing this.’ Cuz San Antonio they don’t treat anybody like superstars. And his uncle, kind of and rightfully so, thought he should’ve been treated like a superstar. But Timmy didn’t. Pop never had to treat Timmy like that cuz Timmy never needed, never cared to be that. But I think you know, Kawhi had the injury, Tony said some things to the media, then Pop said things to the media. Uncle Dennis was like’Nah…”
ESPN also wrote about Uncle Dennis and the Spurs having issues
Uncle Dennis is Dennis Robertson, the brother of Leonard’s mother, Kim. After Kawhi’s dad Mark was killed in 2008, Dennis helped his sister raise her son and became close to “The Klaw.” Although he is not a licensed player agent, he acts as Kawhi’s top advisor and is a big factor in his decision-making.
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In 2018, ESPN wrote an article about how Robertson and Leonard’s agent, Mitch Frankel, interfered with the player’s recovery period from his infamous quadriceps injury while he was still with the Spurs. Soon, Frankel and Robertson sought a second opinion, and that’s when Kawhi’s issues with the Spurs began. Sure, Parker and Pop said some things about Kawhi that he and his camp did not like but ESPN made it look like Uncle Dennis had an ulterior motive.
“There are plenty of people willing to speak about Robertson and Frankel, but very few who will go on the record. Several current and former associates and colleagues describe Robertson as “difficult” and portray an ambitious family member trying to parlay his nephew’s success into his own marketing company,” per ESPN.
Uncle Dennis said it was because of a lack of trust
Kawhi ended up getting traded to the Toronto Raptors, and in vindication, he led the Raptors to the first championship in franchise history in 2019. After that, “The Klaw” won his second championship and second Finals MVP. Uncle Dennis explained, from his standpoint, why Kawhi left San Antonio.
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“I think it just became a lack of trust,” Robertson told Yahoo Sports. “They didn’t believe Kawhi couldn’t play and that caused a lack of trust in us and then us not believing in them. Any time a player says he’s not capable of playing, you should believe him. Why would Kawhi just stop playing all of a sudden? He’s a competitor. Sometimes you get the team doctors telling you what you can and cannot do, and Kawhi was just in too much pain to get out there. This was a serious issue. They didn’t believe him, and after that, the relationship couldn’t recover and we decided we had to move on.”
Leonard left Toronto to sign with the L.A. Clippers after their title-winning season. Once again, Uncle Dennis became controversial, accused of making impermissible demands. Kawhi denied the accusations, but his uncle’s reputation continued.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.