Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
I’m a big Toronto Raptors Fan.
I’m also a personal injury lawyer.
I jump at the chance to marry these two topics for the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog.
Recently, Kawhi Leonard was fined $700,000 by the NBA for accepting no-show endorsement deals which were brokered by the LA Clippers. It was a slap on the wrist when you look at the amount of money he received in these off court no show endorsements vs. the $700,000 he was fined. He made a lot of money from these deals.
The investigation into his wrongdoing spanned numbers of months and cost millions of dollars in legal fees.
Throughout the investigation, Mr. Leonard denied any wrongdoing, stating:
“It’s easy for me, I don’t read headlines or do conspiracy theories or anything like that. It’s about the season and what we’ve got ahead of us right now. Tomorrow we’ll start camp, and see what we got.”
When asked about the investigation, Mr. Leonard stated: “The NBA’s gonna do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing. And, yeah, that’s it… We invite the investigations. It’s not gonna be a distraction for me or the rest of the team.”
When asked about Aspiration, the company which he received money and stock options from, he stated “It was fraud, as everybody knows. If you want any more questions or details about that company you need to ask the owner or whoever else is involved in the fraud that went on.”
Mr. Leonard’s statements were on the record, which, in the Court of public opinion and in the Court of Public Relations; is as good as a statement given under oath.
Here’s the problem.
Mr. Leonard said one thing on the record; namely that he did nothing wrong and that he was not involved in anything out of the ordinary. But the NBA found it was the exact opposite; and then Mr. Leonard accepted the outcome of the NBA’s investigation.
The contradictory statements speak to Mr. Leonard’s reliability and credibility. He is not a reliable story teller; nor is he a credible witness/party. His hands are not clean; despite the fact that he went on record to the media that he had done nothing wrong.
There is something very wrong with this picture; and it bears consequences.
These sort of consequences; which involve the credibility and the reliability of a party; are very important in personal injury cases in Ontario. In fact, sometimes the reliability and the credibility of a party’s evidence/testimony is the difference between and successful personal injury case; and an unsuccessful one.
Credibility and reliability are so important that we have an entire process which is devoted to it for personal injury cases. This is called the examination for discovery. At discovery, a party is questioned under oath. If, that they’re saying under oath doesn’t match up to the evidence; or there are gaping holes which cannot be explained; or the opposing lawyer’s BS detector goes off; it will spell problems for the person’s case.
If a person like Kawhi Leonard were to profess testimony under oath that he was not a party of the fraud; and that he knew nothing about these elaborate off court no show endorsement deals that’s one thing. But, when Mr. Leonard’s signature is all over the documents relating to no show endorsement deals; when emails flow suggesting that he knew, or ought to have known about payments; when money rains down from the sky without explanation other than it was for an endorsement deal where he did no work; where his agents are working behind the scene making demands which fall outside the framework of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement; don’t you think a lawyer hearing this will have a hard time believing it to be truthful and accurate? Do you think that the lawyer hearing the testimony and statements will believe Mr. Leonard to be a credible and reliable party? Absolutely not.
The exact same thing happens in a personal injury case.
When a Plaintiff attends at discovery; or gives a statement that their back really hurts; and that they cannot function at all; yet there is surveillance of them playing hours of pick up basketball at a local YMCA; and then surveillance of them working as a bricklayer post accident despite the fact that they gave evidence that they couldn’t work; do you really think that the lawyer from the insurance company is going to believe the Plaintiff? Not a chance!
Insurance companies aren’t all bad. They; like everyone else; want to save money where they can and don’t want to be taken advantage of by a person who is trying to dupe the system. Insurers are more likely to payout on claims where the claimant is honest, truthful and reliable; rather than a liar, a faker and a cheater.
In a private business dealing, you would rather make a deal with a trustworthy party instead of one who you suspect is a liar or a cheat.
And this is why I have a big problem with Kawhi Leonard. He’s a wonderful basketball player. But, he’s lost me along with a number of other fans when it comes to his reliability, credibility and trustworthiness as a person on and off the Court. The Raptors didn’t have to make a deal to get Mr. Leonard. He’s left every franchise he’s ever been with in a mess. Even when he won the championship with Toronto in 2019; he left for NOTHING. The Raptors didn’t get any return whatsoever; losing him to the free agent market with nothing to show for it. Which begs the question as to why Mr. Leonard is so eager to return to Toronto having left us so hastily in 2019? Either way, the Raptors are making a deal for a player of limited character, who has proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted.
The Raptors will invariably offer Mr. Leonard a maximum contract extension. What happens to Mr. Leonard’s on court performance and motivation to compete once he signs that extension? He will have nothing to prove, and thus, nothing to play for. Knowing his past, would you really trust Mr. Leonard to perform at the level which you’ve paid him to perform; and expect from him? Or, will he just mail it in because he got what he came to Toronto for; and this is the type of person he’s shown to be based on his statements and actions.
The question about Kawhi Leonard and for insurance companies when assessing a Plaintiff is ultimately the same:
Can we really trust this guy?
