Magic Johnson leaks reportedly hurt Lakers’ chances of signing Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard did not sound too interested in joining an existing superteam with the Los Angeles Lakers especially after he took down the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Why would he need LeBron James and Anthony Davis when he won it all with Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam? But what also didn’t help the Lakers’ case to sign him was the leaks from Magic Johnson.
Cris Carter, who has been on top of the Leonard free agency story, reported that Leonard wasn’t in favor of forming a superteam after taking one out. He also said Magic’s leaks didn’t help either.
Kawhi wasn’t in favor of forming another super team after taking down the Warriors.
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) July 6, 2019
All the information that leaked from Magic’s conversations with Kawhi team didn’t help the Lakers case.
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) July 6, 2019
All the information about Kawhi Leonard’s free agency process was as quiet as could be. Information was hard to come by, with most of the random rumors coming from unreliable sources. None of the typical credible reporters were providing information.
But there was one piece of information that came out, and it was the details of Magic Johnson’s conversation with Leonard and his manager, Uncle Dennis. Brad Turner reported several details on Spectrum SportsNet of Magic’s conversation with Leonard. Where else did that information come from if not through Magic? It’s obvious Johnson yapped.
Kawhi’s camp did not like that, just as was reported during the week.
Meanwhile, there was not one leak from the Clippers all along. Not one. They proved they were trustworthy, and they ended up with the biggest prize of all.
Leonard probably was unlikely to choose the Lakers. The fact that the only leak about his free agency came from them probably cemented things in his mind.
