We already knew Kawhi Leonard had leveraged his free agency in tremendous ways.
The night he agreed to sign with the LA Clippers in July 2019 — you might remember the literal earthquake at Las Vegas Summer League — his new team also pulled off a trade for Paul George. Leonard may or may not have signed with the Clippers without a co-star coming home with him, but the team was not going to take that chance. It gave up an unholy amount, eventually becoming a regrettable sum, to get George, all because it meant also getting Leonard.
In that moment, the power Leonard wielded was evident. And why shouldn’t he have been in that position? He had just won his second NBA Finals MVP, this time as the unquestioned alpha, in a title run with the Toronto Raptors. He was in the running for the best player in the league, and one of the league’s undeniable two-way stars. As an offensive creator who could also defend the wing as well as anyone, he was the personification of the league’s most in-demand player type. That he could help the Clippers finally get one over on the Lakers was a bonus. This was the first of two times Leonard held all the cards a player could hold in free agency.
The next was in 2021, a moment we have been revisiting a lot lately thanks to the revelations, as first reported by the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” that Leonard received somewhere between $28 million-48 million via a “no-show” contract from fraudulent sustainability company Aspiration, a former Clippers sponsorship partner. The NBA is investigating to see if the Clippers used the partnership as a way to circumvent the league’s salary cap.
That is the main way this has been presented: Did the Clippers do something wrong? A less frequently asked question: Did Leonard? The stoic star has managed to avoid criticism throughout the process. While neither he nor his business team violated any laws, it is curious why Leonard hasn’t earned some heat for the scandal.
This is capitalism, so anybody is free to ask for anything in an employment agreement. To be sure, it is the Clippers, not Leonard, who should face punishment for any cap malfeasance. However, Leonard, via his uncle Dennis Robertson was the one seeking extra perks, as further outlined in a Toronto Star story detailing his negotiations with the Raptors. While many, many other stars have sought to use their leverage to improve their odds of winning, personal fame or many other aspects of their lives, it’s only Leonard, to our knowledge, who has done this in such a flagrant manner.
In 2019 and again in 2021, Leonard was in a great position as a free agent, even if he was coming off knee surgery in the latter case. Several teams would have moved mountains to get him, opening up a maximum-value contract at any length he desired, within the terms of the league’s CBA.
And shouldn’t that have been enough? Leonard has plenty of promotional opportunities. He was playing in Los Angeles, one of the league’s two cultural hubs. His first Clippers contract guaranteed him $65.1 million, not counting a player option he ultimately declined. The one he signed in 2021 locked him in for another $176.3 million. That is generational wealth, even if nowhere near the money Steve Ballmer and his fellow league governors have.
Of course, saying how much money is enough is not very American. That may be where the hesitation to criticize Leonard starts. Along with that, tidbits regarding his comparative frugality have emerged during his career, making his quest to maximize his earnings somewhat endearing.
Leonard also faced personal tragedy from a young age. You can understand why he’d seek maximum financial security. Considering injuries have defined his Los Angeles tenure, you can feel good for Leonard, given he was able to earn so much despite his body betraying him. In all but the rarest of cases, that wouldn’t have happened in the National Football League, for example.
Moreover, this is a millionaire and his team seeking to unburden billionaires and some shady entrepreneurs of their money. It is difficult to work up a moral lather about that, and fun to mock Ballmer, the Clippers’ chairman, and his partners for allegedly acquiescing to Robertson’s asks, thus finding themselves in this spot. If the right to attempt to become wealthy beyond necessity is part of the American Dream, then laughing at the rich is an American pastime.
Yet, Robertson’s reported off-the-books asks have been open secrets for years. By not stopping them, Leonard co-signs them. This doesn’t rise to the biggest problems in the world, but you either believe in the concept of team sports or you don’t.
If you do, this looks like Leonard repeatedly allowing his uncle to attempt to circumvent the NBA’s rules to get him more money. If found out, it would inevitably hurt his team. When you hear about championship teams, the idea of sacrifice frequently appears. This is the opposite of sacrifice; it’s transparent greed, a quality that you are free to have but doesn’t have to be applauded.
Leonard has faced criticism in the past for his frequent inability to play, some of it tied to his lone season in Toronto and the “load management” term the team perhaps incorrectly used when it was really managing his recovery from the quadriceps injury that scuttled his previous season. In responding to that criticism, Leonard has understandably bristled, saying he doesn’t work as hard as he does in the offseason to not play in games. The basic message: He wants to hoop and forget the rest of the noise.
But if Leonard just wanted to play basketball and compete for titles, shouldn’t several maximum-value contracts, multiple well-paying endorsement deals and a remarkable level of privacy for such a famous person have been enough?
This is modern capitalism, so maybe the answer is a simple “No.” Still, plenty of stars have managed to navigate this all without the sideshows. If one just wanted to play basketball and live a relatively quiet life with one’s family, there are surely better ways to go about one’s business and career.
(Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)