Kawhi Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, made a bunch of “lavish” requests to the Los Angeles Lakers during free agency, and owner Jeanie Buss told him they were “illegal,” according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Some of these requests reportedly included a private plane, part ownership, a house and a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money.
Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, who acquired Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers and Toronto Raptors both felt uncomfortable dealing with Uncle Dennis and his demands:
A source with knowledge of the Kawhi-Lakers talks said Robertson made those requests repeatedly to owner Jeanie Buss over the course of three phone calls that spanned several days, and that she made it clear that such perks were illegal and would not be considered. There was even a question raised by Robertson about why Lakers legend Magic Johnson had been given a small piece of Lakers ownership so many years ago, with Buss explaining that the two situations couldn’t have been more different – even beyond the fact that one was legal and the other was not.
The NBA reportedly investigated the situation after complaints cropped up. While rival teams are of the belief Uncle Dennis also made the requests of the Clippers, there's no evidence they granted any of them. Still, it's clear the Lakers are peeved with how Leonard's free agency played out, with Buss apparently believing they were being used as leverage.
The Lakers still had a productive offseason despite missing out on Leonard. The Purple and Gold signed Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Troy Daniels, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley and DeMarcus Cousins.
After Cousins tore his ACL, the Lakers signed Dwight Howard to a non-guaranteed deal.
Having LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Leonard in Laker gold would have been an incredible sight to see. However, Leonard was fixated on playing with George, and the Clippers were able to make it happen.
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