Sometimes, the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog writes about things other than personal injury law. This is one of those occasions.
Earlier this week, Pablo Torre launched a bombshell investigative report on his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out. It explores how the LA Clippers may have circumvented the NBA’s salary cap rules by paying their star player, former Toronto Raptor, Kawhi Leonard; through a no-show $28 million dollar endorsement contract.
It’s a must listen podcast for anyone who enjoys investigative journalism, business, basketball, and/or the Toronto Raptors. I, myself, love all of those things; so I listened to the podcast over, and over and over again.
Coincidentally, the podcast was released on Wednesday morning. That same morning I had to do all sorts of driving to meet with clients across Ontario; so I uploaded the podcast for my drive. It provided wonderful edutainment for my journey.
In listening to the podcast, I got really upset. You might be wondering why.
I’ve been a huge NBA fan all of my life. I can remember doing my best to follow the NBA before the Toronto Raptors; or the very thought of the Toronto Raptors came to town back in 1995. Watching NBA games for a young fan in Canada in the 1980’s wasn’t easy. There was no League Pass. There were no internet streaming services. You couldn’t watch games on YouTube. Local cable providers weren’t all that enthusiastic about carrying or promoting basketball in Canada because it was basketball and not hockey.
I’ve been a Toronto Raptor fan since day 1. I’ve seen all of the downs, and ups, which this franchise has endured. There are more downs than ups if you look at their history. I remember their first basket. I remember going to games at the SkyDome. I remember all of the players who played here, and those players who refused to dress for the team for one reason or another. I can remember the franchise pandering to our best players family members. I can remember meeting with players and executives in the owners/chairman’s lounge on multiple occasions and discussing who would be the next to win a championship; the Toronto Raptors or the Toronto Maple Leafs. I was also at the most poorly attended game in franchise history. That should tell you the roots of my fandom.
And I certainly remember the 2019 Championship Season.
Kawhi Leonard came to the Toronto Raptors in what some would call an all in and risky trade. Leonard had just one year remaining on his contract; and he was a box of mysteriously damaged goods. If he didn’t re-sign, the Raptors were trading for a rental player. If he didn’t perform, you traded for a lemon. You didn’t know what you were going to get.
Kawhi Leonard needed to the Toronto Raptors because he needed a platform to show the league that he could play at a high level to earn as much as he could over his next NBA contract. At the same time, if Kawhi Leonard was able to perform at a high level, he would help the Toronto Raptors compete for an NBA Championship. The parties needed each other. It was a match made in permafrost heaven.
Kawhi was spectacular for the Toronto Raptors. There can be no argument there. He was the MVP in Toronto’s first ever NBA Championship; and was widely viewed as the best basketball player on the planet in 2019. He was at the peak of his powers entering free agency. It’s very rare that someone at their apex, having just won the NBA championship MVP becomes a free agent.
Toronto was in the running to resign Kawhi. Under NBA rules, Toronto could offer Kawhi the MOST money per year; plus the longest term length for an NBA contract.
The term of contract would be very important to Kawhi because he had a lengthy history of injuries prior to coming to Toronto. You will also recall that the term “load management” often used by Toronto in order to mitigate and manage the stress on Kawhi’s body. So, from my perspective, it would only make sense that Kawhi sign the max money and max length deal with the Toronto Raptors so that he could get the most money possible. If he wasn’t happy in Toronto after a certain period of time, he could get traded, as we often see happen in the modern NBA where stars sign for the max with their current team, and then get traded when they get unhappy. This would have been no different for Kawhi in Toronto. He would also return to Toronto in order to defend his NBA title, and rejoin a proven championship roster in order to attempt to cement his legacy as one of the all time greats who has ever played the game.
But instead, Kawhi opted to take less money, and less term in signing with Los Angeles’ second team, the LA Clippers. This raised eye brows in NBA circles. He was signing for less money, less term, and for a franchise who had never won anything. He left a championship team and certain championship contender for a whole pile of uncertainly with the Clippers. It didn’t make business sense, or sense from a competitive basketball perspective.
The rationale was that Kawhi wanted to go home in Southern California. If a player wants to play in their home town, or be closer to home; then so be it. In my mind, I thanked Kawhi for his services, and wished him luck with his new team.
But, Kawhi leaving to the Clippers remained very strange given the facts above. It was so strange that the NBA conducted an investigation into the signing of Kawhi by the Clippers in 2019. The NBA investigation found no wrong doing. I accepted the findings, and just credited this all to Kawhi wanting to play closer to home. The story was over. Or was it?
Pablo Torre then breaks his story of the $28 million dollar no show endorsement deal and its apparent connection to the Clippers. Once that story broke, I have a hard time as a Raptor fan, and as an NBA fan to accept the findings of the NBA’s 2019 investigation; and accept the way that the league does business with free agents. The transparency and level playing field has been put in doubt.
Kawhi leaving Toronto had a huge impact on the NBA.
It resulted in the Thunder winning a championship and acquiring a league MVP along with a treasure chest of draft picks for years to come.
It resulted in to what we’ve seen play out for the Clippers since Kawhi and Paul George joined that franchise.
It resulted in the Toronto Raptors losing assets in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green for nothing. The Toronto Raptors got no return on those assets given that they walked away without Toronto getting any player or draft equity back. This leaves a massive void of talent which needs to be replenished, but this can’t be done easily.
It resulted in the NBA imposing steeper fines in teams dealing with non-agents, along with more stringent agent certification and authentication rules. Call them the Uncle Dennis rules if you will.
This is a big story for Toronto Raptor fans. I’m quite surprised it has not gained more traction in Canadian basketball circles and Toronto Raptor media outlets. Simply put, what was uncovered does not pass the sniff test.