Kawhi Leonard’s exit from the San Antonio Spurs made headlines in 2018. It was a fruitful decision for him, as he led the Toronto Raptors to their first championship. However, it might have been preventable.
The San Antonio Spurs traded for Kawhi Leonard in 2011 with expectations that he would become a stopper. That worked out for him because he became known as one of the greatest defenders of the modern generation.
However, Leonard had different plans because he improved his all-around game. The quiet forward quickly became a star, as he became the heir to the Spurs’ throne after Tim Duncan’s retirement. Unfortunately, he suffered injuries that kept him out of the lineup, which irked some people, including Tony Parker.
Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty ImagesFormer Spurs players give context behind the fallout with Leonard
As the best player on the Spurs, losing Leonard to injury was a big deal. The injury struggles stemmed from when Leonard stepped on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in the 2017 Western Conference Finals. His struggles throughout the 2017-18 season made him question the Spurs’ medical staff.
Leonard did not trust his team’s doctors, prompting him to ask for a second opinion. That led to him not playing a game in 2018 for the Spurs, which led to the blockbuster trade. DeMar DeRozan landed with the Spurs while Leonard played for a talented Toronto Raptors team.
At the same time, franchise icon Tony Parker questioned Leonard’s decision to get a second opinion.
That did not work out well because Kawhi Leonard and his management did not like that. Danny Green, a former Spurs teammate, felt that was the beginning of the end.
“You know, San Antonio, they don’t treat anybody like superstars. I think his uncle (thought), rightfully so, should have been treated as a superstar. Pop was spoiled; he never had to treat Timmy like that,” Green said on All The Smoke.
“Kawhi had the injury, then Tony said some stuff to the media. Then Pop said some stuff to the media. I think Uncle Dennis was like ‘Nah.’ Kawhi came back from nine games, and after that, you have to talk to Kawhi’s people.”
“Me and Kawhi could not take that s**t… He really wanted to hoop. When the injury stuff came down, how they did not fight for him in public… Tony was like ‘I had the same injury and I came back’ questioning if he was really hurt. That pushed him right out the door,” Stephen Jackson said on All The Smoke in 2023.
While DeMar DeRozan was decent for the Spurs, he was not Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs’ 2014 Finals MVP only played one season for the Raptors, but he managed to win a championship. It was a fantastic achievement that Leonard could have done with the Spurs, but the fallout was too huge.
To rub it in further, Leonard won the 2019 Finals MVP, something he did before with the Spurs. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs could have competed against the Golden State Warriors, but it did not work out. It would have been better if Parker had stayed quiet.
Losing Leonard was a significant blow, which they are slowly recovering from. With Victor Wembanyama as the team’s current superstar, they are in good hands. However, there is always a time to wonder what Leonard could have done as a superstar in the late 2010s.