New reporting on Kawhi Leonard’s free agency with the Los Angeles Clippers might make it even more difficult for the organization to plausibly deny reports that they were involved in setting up a phony endorsement deal for the star forward.
Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, made an ambitious series of demands of the Clippers during their 2019 free agent courtship of Leonard, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN. On behalf of Leonard, Robertson asked the Clippers for part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house, and guaranteed off-court endorsement money.
Holmes reports that the Clippers did not agree to these requests, as they were violations of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. However, the team did grant Leonard some other requests, including being marketed individually and being excused from some media obligations and team events.
Uncle Dennis reportedly made similar requests of other teams that were pursuing Leonard at the time. Those were largely shut down, but it does appear possible that the Clippers were willing to go further than other franchises were in trying to accommodate the demands.
The biggest demand was for guaranteed off-court endorsement money, which dovetails directly with what the Clippers have been accused of setting up for Leonard. Essentially, the organization has been accused of setting up a bogus endorsement deal for Leonard to pay him millions without that money counting toward the salary cap.
The Clippers have denied the allegations and suggested that they were defrauded by the company they were investing in. The NBA has launched an investigation into the claims, and the Clippers could face serious consequences of the allegations are found to be true.
