When free agency began nearly a month ago and Kawhi Leonard started meeting with potential suitors, he apparently had more demands than just max money.
Once he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, it became known that, according to reports, he wanted them to first trade for Paul George.
But now it appears that Leonard’s camp wanted much more than that.
On ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith reported that Leonard’s uncle, who essentially represents the former Toronto Raptor, made huge demands that had nothing to do with basketball.
“This is me putting on my reporter’s hat here. People in NBA circles are talking about this right now: Allegedly, the uncle, Uncle Dennis, was asking for a lot of stuff from the other teams; houses, planes, sponsorship, guaranteed sponsorship money, just as an example. They’re throwing this stuff out there. All of those things are supposedly illegal in the collective bargaining agreement. I have no idea whether this is true or not. I’m not trying to cast any aspersions on Uncle Dennis, but people in NBA circles are talking about this as we speak.”
The ESPN commentator also downplayed the notion that the Lakers got taken advantage of by Leonard during negotiations, as the team had recently claimed. Smith said there was no reason for the Lakers to wait as long as they did for Leonard to make their decision, as they already possesed two of the top superstars in pro basketball.
