Leonard was advised by uncle to leave Spurs

Sports Focus


 

 

My longtime compadre and fellow sports guy here at the Express, Leon Zabava, was right when he said that Kawhi Leonard was receiving advice from an uncle to leave the San Antonio Spurs.

Zabava not only keeps up with the national sports scene as well as anyone, but he also has gained a reputation as an expert prognosticator of high school football games that start in the fall.

While discussing the Leonard situation with him about two weeks ago, Zabava said he had a source who had told him that Leonard had been influenced by a family member who encouraged him to ask the Spurs for a trade after the Spurs held a players-only meeting to clear the air with Leonard.

At that time, I told Zabava that I thought that was only a rumor and that we should wait until more evidence emerged. A few days later the story broke in the San Antonio Express- News that Leonard had become disillusioned with the team and wanted to be traded.

At that meeting, it was reported that Tony Parker, who had called the meeting, told the players he had suffered an injury similar to Leonard’s and he had healed in less time than what it was taking Leonard. “My injury was 100 times worse,” said Parker.

That statement was what Leonard interpreted as an ambush.

According to another story in the Express-News, Leonard was now being influenced by an uncle, Dennis Robertson, who was acting as his personal manager along with new agent Mitch Frankel.

As most of you know, the Spurs finally reached a deal with the Toronto Raptors and sent Leonard and Danny Green to Toronto for Raptors star DeMar DeRozan and center Jakob Poeltl plus a future firstround draft choice.

In my view, the problems with Leonard surfaced because of his reluctance to speak clearly and communicate better with his teammates and front office.

In an interview with an ESPN reporter, David Robinson, who many consider one of the most beloved of Spurs of all time, said he had never been able to get close to Leonard although he tried.

Coach Gregg Popovich took it one step further, saying, “When you look at Kawhi’s face you don’t know if he’s happy or sad.”

I suspect the Raptors got the best of the trade if Leonard regains his form as an NBA superstar. But if his mysterious quadriceps injury pops up again and he misses multiple games, then the Spurs got rid of a disgruntled superstar and got another great player in DeRozan.

The saga continues.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *