When the Los Angeles Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018, the plan seemed to be to eventually surround him with two other superstars. That had been the blueprint that he needed to that point in his career in order to win championships.
They traded for Anthony Davis in the summer of 2019, and in early July of that year, they courted Kawhi Leonard, who had just led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA championship and won finals MVP honors. Leonard, of course, instead chose the Los Angeles Clippers, and both parties are now embroiled in allegations that the Clippers tried to circumvent the salary cap in order to pay him additional money.
There is now a feeling that Leonard is somewhat of a slippery character, especially since he has his uncle, Dennis Robertson, handle plenty of his business affairs. According to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Leonard and Robertson made several demands of the Clippers in July 2019, including acquiring All-Star forward Paul George and even an ownership stake in the franchise.
The two reportedly also asked the Lakers and Raptors for an ownership stake.
“Acquiring George was one of several requests made by Leonard and his camp, led by Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, who outlined a series of asks for the Clippers in the days leading up to July 5,” Holmes wrote.
“Those requests included part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court endorsement money, one source with direct knowledge of the talks said. They were the same requests that, according to The Athletic, Robertson made of the Lakers and the Raptors. The Toronto Star reported on Sept. 9 that Robertson also asked the Raptors for ownership stakes in outside companies and corporate sponsorship deals in which Leonard wouldn’t have to do anything in return for the money.”
Aside from the salary cap circumvention allegations and the resulting investigation the NBA has launched, there’s a feeling the Lakers dodged a bullet when Leonard rejected them. In fact, one Lakers source says that people within the organization always count their blessings that Leonard never came because of how difficult he reportedly is to deal with.
The six-time All-Star has played in 266 of a possible 472 regular-season games since coming to the Clippers due to injuries and load management. They have reached the Western Conference finals just once with him and haven’t won a single playoff series with him since 2021, the year they got to the West finals.
That year, Leonard injured his knee in Game 4 of the second round of the playoffs, forcing him to miss the rest of the postseason and all of the 2021-22 campaign.