The Kawhi Leonard contract fiasco continues to get more convoluted by the day.
Sports journalist Pablo Torre dropped a bombshell report earlier this week that alleged Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers used a fraudulent tree-planting company to circumvent salary cap rules. Leonard reportedly signed a $28 million endorsement deal that did not actually require him to do any endorsing.
The company, which “conned” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and several of its investors, later filed for bankruptcy.
One of the major figures in the whole mess is Leonard’s Uncle Dennis, who serves as the Clippers star’s business manager. Uncle Dennis Robertson, despite not being a league-certified agent, has negotiated on behalf of Leonard on off-court matters throughout most of the All-Star’s NBA career.
A recent report from the Toronto Star’s Bruce Arthur shed some light on one of Robertson’s more outlandish asks in 2019 when Leonard was the hottest free agent in the NBA.
During negotiations with the Raptors, Uncle Dennis reportedly asked for an ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs, “because that way he wasn’t asking for a piece of the Raptors.” Per the report, the Raptors “politely explained” to Robertson that the two teams shared the same owner and that the request was “impossible.”
The report on the six-year-old negotiation provides valuable insight into the man representing Leonard, particularly as the new investigation gets underway. Leonard ended up signing a three-year, $103 million contract that seemed well below market value for his services. The NBA investigated the Clippers at the time but later cleared them of any wrongdoing.
Some chalked Leonard’s decision up to his desire to return home and team up with fellow California native Paul George. But there may have been more to his decision buried beneath the apple tree.
