The real King. . .
This week, reports have surfaced that Kawhi Leonard made multiple calls to Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jimmy Butler about paring up in Los Angeles. Originally, some writers came out and said that Kawhi never wanted to play for a super team, which was never the case.
With the free agency investigation underway, thanks to no. 23 in Los Angeles, more news surfaces this week. Last month, we broke the story that Kobe Bryant had convinced Kawhi to join the Lake Show and everything was originally set up. After having his meeting with Magic Johnson, Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka; details from the sit-down were leaked.
This ultimately led to Kawhi dropping the Lakers from his choice, as they broke all trust with the Klaw. Leonard, who is a private person, didn’t want information revealed from the meeting and planned to sign with Los Angeles on the strength of the Black Mamba (who never wanted anybody from Cleveland there). Initially, Magic jumped on social media and teased Kawhi joining the Lakers, just a week before free agency. So, if those leaks never happened, Kawhi would’ve signed with the Lakers earlier this month.
Following that, Damon Jones, friend of LeBron James, also went on ESPN’s Get Up morning show to tease the Klaw joining the team. That was followed by multiple stories surfacing about the meeting with Kawhi, Uncle Dennis and the Lakers; which people are still trying out who purposely leaked not LeBron James the information and sabotage Leonard’s dream.
In a conversation with Rachel Nichols, Kawhi said “I was very close. Real close. But when the Clippers presented the opportunity of playing with Paul, it was easy, it was a yes. I said let’s get it going.”
However, this statement contradicts an earlier report of Kawhi reaching out to play with PG and giving the Clippers time to get a trade package together with OKC, which is what really happened.
Take a look at excerpts from the conversation below.
Kawhi on how close he was to choosing the Lakers or Raptors instead of the Clippers:
"I was very close. Real close. But when [the Clippers] presented the opportunity of playing with Paul, it was easy, it was a yes. I said let's get it going."— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 24, 2019