I can still see the freshly poured margarita sweating on the bar in front of me on that warm July evening.
I can still see it, because Kawhi Leonard made me run from it.
The news had just leaked that the Clippers made the biggest free-agent signing in franchise history, so I left the beautiful, salty Cadillac untouched and raced home from the neighborhood watering hole to write the following words.
“Oh me, oh my, they did it. On a transformative Friday night beyond even Clipper Darrell’s wildest dreams, the Clippers acquired arguably the best player in the NBA … Kawhi Leonard? Are you kidding me?”
Seven years later, I’m asking the same question, only it sounds vastly different.
Kawhi Leonard? Are you kidding me?
Seven years later, Leonard has abused an organization, alienated a fan base and basically collected nearly $300 million of Steve Ballmer’s money and burned it.
Seven years later, he has been injured, apathetic, entitled, disconnected and generally nothing but a pain in the backside for a reenergized franchise that deserved so much better.
As the Clippers stare down another offseason Leonard dilemma — he’s in the middle of this Aspiration mess and in the final year of his contract — one thing is clear.
Kawhi Leonard was the worst free-agent signing in Los Angeles sports history.
He’s more lame than Anthony Rendon, who signed a $245-million deal with the Angels in 2019 and basically didn’t play again.
He’s more disheartening than Jason Schmidt, who signed a three-year, $47-million contract with the Dodgers in 2007 and appeared in all of 10 games.
He’s more frustrating than Allen Robinson, who signed a three-year, $46-million deal with the Rams in 2022 and appeared in 10 total games.
He’s even a bigger joke than the Lakers’ Bust Twins, Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng, who both signed big-money deals in 2016 and barely made a single impact play while being essentially kicked off the team within two seasons.
Leonard has been that disappointing. Leonard has been that destructive. Even accounting for his on-court resurgence over the last 18 months, Leonard has been that damn bad.
Where does one start? How about at the start?
Even before he officially signed, Leonard made the Clippers worse. Remember, the only reason he joined them is because they traded for Paul George at the same time. He wasn’t coming without his buddy, and so the Clippers had to do cartwheels to complete the deal in conjunction with signing Leonard.
Those gymnastics landed the Clippers flat on their backs, as the George trade will be remembered as one of the most one-sided deals in NBA history, the Clippers sending future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round draft picks — five! — to Oklahoma City.
While the Thunder were becoming NBA champions, the Clippers had trouble getting Leonard and George to even play together. During their five seasons as teammates they appeared on the court together less than half the time.
Leonard didn’t seem to care. From the moment he joined the team, under the direction of his powerful uncle Dennis Robertson, Leonard made it clear that this was all about Kawhi, his needs, his demands, his team.
He wanted the Clippers to hire some members of his support staff. He wanted to skip media obligations and community events. He didn’t want to live in Los Angeles, instead commuting from San Diego County. And he didn’t want the Clippers to follow the NBA’s transparency rules involving injuries. They were basically told to never talk about Leonard’s nagging injuries.
This latest demand was tested just five games into his tenure. Leonard didn’t play in the first game of a back-to-back set, then, a couple of days later, he affixed himself to the bench again before the first game of another back-to-back set. In both cases, the Clippers won when he played and lost when he did not and there was seemingly nothing they could do or say about it.
Asked about Leonard’s health, then-coach Doc Rivers said simply, “I’m scared to answer.”
The Clippers basically have spent Leonard’s entire tenure being scared of him, hoping that their subservience would make him comfortable enough to lead them to a championship.
The joke has been on them.
He’s played well enough to be named to four All-Star teams with the Clippers, even earning All-Star game MVP in 2020. But, while he was arguably the best player in the league when they acquired him, he has been named to the All-NBA first team once only since, and generally has regressed with age and inactivity.
Bottom line, Leonard has spent his entire time here seemingly either hurt, or trying not to get hurt, and his career here has been defined by his absences and the decisions surrounding them.
If nothing else, he’ll be remembered as the inspiration of the phrase, “load management.”
In the six seasons he’s been “healthy,” only twice has he played as many as 60 games. During those six seasons the Clippers have advanced past the first round of the playoffs only twice, and their best chance for a deep run ended when he injured himself again in the second round in 2021.
After leading the Clippers to the Western Conference finals for the first time that spring, he sat out that monumental series against the Phoenix Suns because of a leg injury. To make matters worse, during that series he rarely came to the bench to give advice or assistance.
When they needed him most, he wasn’t there, and for seven long seasons he’s rarely been there, avoiding the media and distancing himself from the community and basically behaving like a selfish basketball mercenary who has taken the best intentions of a desperate franchise and exploited them at every angle.
The Clippers were sued twice over their initial attempts to sign him. They have been fined by the NBA for trying to protect him. They have been accused of trying to circumvent the salary cap by giving him a $28-million endorsement deal through a failed green banking company named Aspiration.
The Clippers might have a hard time trading him until the Aspiration scandal is resolved by the NBA. They should try to trade him anyway. The one year remaining on his contract is one year too many.
Man, I’d like that margarita back.
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