Spurs’ statements are not very kind to Kawhi Leonard
You don’t have to read between the lines to deduce that the San Antonio Spurs aren’t exactly sorry to see the back of Kawhi Leonard.
In their various statements announcing Wednesday’s major trade that sees Leonard move to the Toronto Raptors, it certainly looked like the Spurs were doing the bare minimum to recognize Leonard on his way out the door.
First, there were the graphics from the team’s official Twitter account, which looked to give the other player moved in the deal, Danny Green, a bigger, more prominent thank you font-wise.
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) July 18, 2018
In their official statement announcing the trade, the Spurs didn’t list any of Leonard’s personal accomplishments with the team, instead simply rattling off his career stats in a single sentence.
Official press release from Spurs omits Kawhi’s 2014 Finals MVP, All-Stars, 2 DPOYs and the 2014 title. They’re under no obligation to highlight credentials of the player they traded obviously but man, still feels cold pic.twitter.com/g972zClH44
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) July 18, 2018
This isn’t necessarily unprecedented, but it’s still a pretty clear indicator of what the team thinks of Leonard and how he’s carried himself throughout this process. It looks like his new team could have a difficult time with him too.