SAD TO SAY, BUT KAWHI LEONARD SHOULD RETIRE AND HAND BACK THE MILLIONS
He can’t play in the Olympics, either, and after a long-term outbreak of knee injuries that often leave him useless for the Clippers, he should leave the sport and give new life to owner Steve Ballmer
The retirement of Kawhi Leonard came in 2019, when screamers clogged Jurassic Park in Toronto and justified Canada’s hoops worth. “We did this off of love. We willed this into existence,” Drake said of an NBA title in his national ambassadorship. In less than a month, Leonard left the Raptors and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
His goodbye ceremony also should have happened then, five years ago. What exactly was the point of his season-to-season mishmash, anyway? He agreed to an initial deal and two extensions, including one in January for $153 million over three years, which continued to keep him in the league’s upper annual salary tier. The friendly addendums from owner Steve Ballmer prolonged Leonard’s stay in the sunshine, often lacking north of the border. But they also meant he never would come close to a championship amid the usual flurry of knee injuries.
No one is doubting Leonard tore his right ACL three years ago, or that he tore his right meniscus in 2023, or that right knee inflammation caused him to miss 12 of the Clippers’ final 14 games last season. And no one doubts the same knee issues prompted team officials to meet with Team USA bosses this week and decide he won’t play for the Americans in Paris.
But here’s what I’m doubting: Why doesn’t Leonard retire? Why does he keep making hundreds of millions when he has turned load management into his career legacy? I am sad that a wonderful career has stalled, his defense even better than his offense — yet if he can’t put on a uniform with regularity, hasn’t he damaged the Clippers in their quest to make image dents in southern California? And if he can’t play for USA Basketball, why did he show up in Las Vegas for a few days of practices? This is far beyond old.
Did Ballmer suddenly realize his oft-compensated star would play for the Americans and blow off October and November at his new Intuit Dome? Three days ago, Leonard said his health was fine and that he would play in an exhibition game tonight. “I took the time, and I was able to turn around over the last two weeks,” he said. “So I'm out here now and, yeah, I'm having a good time.” Suddenly, team president Lawrence Frank met with coach Ty Lue, an assistant for Team USA coach Steve Kerr, and decided to make the call for Leonard.
Said USA Basketball: “Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the last several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas. He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it's in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games.”
At some point, Ballmer must realize he replaced scandalous Donald Sterling more than 10 years ago. The Clippers do compete, but Leonard — in some sort of harmed condition — can’t bolster a title run with aging James Harden. His partner in non-crime, Paul George, might have agreed to the same $153 million to carry on with Leonard. He said Monday, “We came here together, we want to finish this s— together. I’ll take what Kawhi got, I was cool with that and we were still taking less. Kawhi took less, so if Kawhi takes less, I’m not going. It’s not about me being paid more than him. I’m going to take what he got.”
But when negotiations began in midseason, the Clippers offered George only $60 million for two years. Ballmer is opening a $2 billion building, with state-of-the-art food items and more than 1,000 toilets, but when he sent someone to Austria and named a hot concession pretzel, George would pay the price. So much for winning as 5,000 fans are asked to fill 51 uninterrupted rows to make a “wall of sound.” George signed in Philadelphia at $212 million for four seasons.
“I’m like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said. “Two years, 60? That’s crazy! I’m not signing that.”
Derrick White arrives after helping the Boston Celtics win a title. He can play, beyond Leonard’s capability. As for the Clippers, Ballmer should investigate himself after his latest contribution to the Kawhi Retirement Fund. When George left, Leonard wasn’t surprised. The two had spoken all season about management. “We knew what it was before the season," Leonard said Tuesday. “We knew what it was going to come down to. So, we talked the whole way through. It's no surprise.”
Really? Leonard signs an extension in January and eagerly lets George leave in July. Does he even want to win anymore? Is he too busy sitting and making loads of money? Everyone is aware of what he once did, including 17-year-old Cooper Flagg, who was asked to name the best defensive player of all time. “Kawhi Leonard,” he said. That was five years ago.
“You lose an important piece to the team like PG, it's hard to replace," Lue told ESPN. “I’m disappointed that we weren't able to get the deal done, disappointed he didn't come back. It's tough for the organization. We got to see how we move forward from here. I talked to him many times, trying to see what his mindset was, what we need to do different, how we can help his process along. It's unfortunate that he left.”
Soon enough, Kawhi Leonard should realize his owner wants to win glory and sell out an Inglewood arena. Sitting on the bench and drawing massive checks cannot work. A friend is coming to Los Angeles this fall and asked who’s playing for the Clippers. I said Harden, Ivica Zubac and Derrick Jones. With Leonard, we’d have hit the Intuit Dome.
Instead, we’ll see LeBron James exchange high-fives with his son.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.