LA Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank fired shots in the wake of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George's introduction, noting how hallway rivals Los Angeles Lakers missed out on the former in free agency.
The Lakers reportedly had the first chance to speak to Leonard, getting not one, but two separate meetings with the free-agent star, as the content of Leonard's meeting with Hall of Famer and former Lakers president Magic Johnson soon leaked for the public in detail.
Some speculated the leak was eventually what did the Lakers in, given Leonard camp's request of keeping matters private through recruitment conversations.
“When you're known as a leaky team, people don't want to make deals with you,” said Frank, according to Farbod Esnaashari of Forbes.
While the Lakers self-aggrandized and felt utterly confident in their chances to add a third superstar to their team, the Clippers worked behind the scenes, arduously looking for a partner to team up Leonard with, until they were made aware of Paul George's trade request.
“When we put Paul George's name as a potential target, Kawhi said ‘that's the guy, I want to play with him,'” said Frank.
Asked of how the trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder went about, Frank put his own motto to work:
“We don't kiss and tell,” said the Clippers president.
Frank and company have made a killing out of working stealthily and keeping their moves under wraps, the way most successful front offices manage to do — even in today's era of instant news.
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