Kawhi Leonard Articles - Page 48

Norman Powell says the Toronto Raptors are “happy” for Kawhi Leonard after the two-time Finals MVP agreed to a free agent deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. Powell says no one on the team is upset at Leonard for leaving the Raptors since the superstar made the best choice for him and guided Toronto to […]

Not even a championship could keep Kawhi Leonard from the lure of continuing his career in Southern California. It won’t be long before the LA Clippers superstar is back north of the border, though, as his new team is set to take on the Dallas Mavericks for a preseason game in Vancouver on October 17. […]

Following his earth-shattering move to the Los Angeles Clippers over the weekend, Kawhi Leonard appears to be parting ways with his former team, the Toronto Raptors, on fine terms. One fan pretty much summed up how most Raptors supporters feel about Kawhi’s recent departure, as he hung up the reigning Finals MVP’s Toronto jersey in […]

NBA fans woke up to the news of Kawhi Leonard signing with the Los Angeles Clippers recently, as well as the organization trading Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, four first-round picks, and two pick swaps to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Paul George. Leonard and George give the Clippers a formidable one-two punch, but bigger than […]

There was reportedly “no way” Kawhi Leonard was going to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers to play with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. There were multiple reports which claimed the Lakers were the front-runners to land Leonard, who is from California. However, those who know Leonard […]

One of the main reasons Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are teaming up on the Los Angeles Clippers is the presence of head coach Doc Rivers. According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Leonard and George wanted to play for Rivers. Leonard agreed to a four-year deal with the Clippers, while George demanded a […]

LAS VEGAS – Jerome Robinson was already dealing with an illness and preparing to call it a night in preparation for the LA Clippers’ Summer League opener. He was then hit with the news. Kawhi Leonard had committed to the Clippers and the team was trading for superstar Paul George. “At first, it was crazy […]

While LeBron James recruited Kawhi Leonard to the Los Angeles Lakers, he wasn’t in the meeting with owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Leonard seriously considered joining the Lakers, but he decided to sign with the Los Angles Clippers instead and was able to convince Paul […]

Kawhi Leonard has agreed to sign with the LA Clippers, leaving the Toronto Raptors after leading the team to its first championship in franchise history. As he plotted his free-agency decision, the former San Diego State standout tried his hand at recruiting several players around the NBA landscape, including Paul George, Kevin Durant and even […]

Only Kawhi Leonard knows for sure how much the Los Angeles Lakers’ penchant for dysfunction factored into his decision to sign with the cross-arena rival LA Clippers. As FOX Sports’ Cris Carter tells it, though, the Lakers “made a lot of mistakes” while courting the reigning Finals MVP, including leaking details of his meeting with […]

Most fans in Toronto were fine with Kawhi Leonard’s decision to join the Clippers this offseason. Though he was only there for one season, the former 15th overall pick managed to lead the Raptors to their first championship in franchise history, besting the Golden State Warriors in six games. However, there is one establishment in […]

Kawhi Leonard surprised the entire NBA, players and fans alike when he announced that he was joining the Los Angeles Clippers. It was a decision that took him almost an entire week to make, but he eventually chose the team that was never seen as a frontrunner. Former NBA players and current sports analysts Charles […]

NBA analyst Chauncey Billups loves the Los Angeles Clippers’ move to get Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Billups admitted that for the first time in a long while, he doesn’t know who’ll win the title because there’s now good parity in the league. “I was so happy, […]

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson is disappointed that Kawhi Leonard chose the LA Clippers over them. But at the end of the day, Johnson believes that it’s ‘great’ for the rest of the league. Per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Johnson shared his thoughts on the recent blockbuster signing featuring Leonard and […]

After almost five days of holding off his decision, Kawhi Leonard is now with the Los Angeles Clippers. The reigning Finals MVP left the Toronto Raptors after just one season to head back to LA. What’s more stunning is that minutes after he joined the Clippers, it was announced that the team has also traded […]

LAS VEGAS – On Friday, July 5th, a 6.9 earthquake in Ridgecrest California rocked NBA Summer League’s Thomas and Mack Center as well as the Cox Pavilion, forcing games to be cancelled the rest of the night. That became the second stunning thing to happen out of the basketball world that night when reports came […]

Former head coach and NBA executive Tom Thibodeau is a buyer in the Los Angeles Clippers’ defense following the blockbuster acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Thibodeau compared the potential defense of LA to the 2007-08 Boston Celtics’ unit. Thibodeau would know, as he served as an assistant coach for the Celtics from 2007-10 […]

The NBA world was rocked a couple of days ago when Kawhi Leonard decided to sign for the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent. Considering how the reigning Finals MVP had been flirting with the Clippers for quite some time now, this did not exactly come as a complete shocker. However, what did was how […]

Kawhi Leonard did the unprecedented, leaving the Toronto Raptors just 22 days after he led them to their first ever NBA championship. The reigning Finals MVP chose to go home, and play in his hometown for the Los Angeles Clippers. And Raptors head coach Nick Nurse completely understands why Leonard did what he did. “I […]

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was just like any other fan Friday night, hugely surprised by what transpired with the Los Angeles Clippers, who signed Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George in a span of minutes. "I was like, 'That's not true.' I didn't believe it. I was in the pool …" @Dame_Lillard […]

Most franchises and fan bases are irked, at the very least, when incumbent players leave for big-market teams in free agency, but the departures of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green from the Toronto Raptors is different. Not just because the pair helped lead the Raptors to their first title in franchise history, but because they […]

Kawhi Leonard reportedly switched meeting locations with the Los Angeles Lakers to meet with Paul George nearby in Los Angeles, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Leonard recruited George to request a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard’s tactics worked, as Kawhi and George are on the Clippers now, […]

In the last two to three days, the Toronto Raptors reportedly did not believe Kawhi Leonard was truly serious about returning to Toronto, according to Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Sun. Leonard agreed to a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Key details from Bruce here: Kawhi was indeed in Toronto from […]

Doc Rivers, to be clear, is not a supporter of Donald Trump. In fact, he’s gone out of his way in the past to decry the President’s policies and general worldview, which he believes sow unnecessary discord throughout the country. Forgive yourself for assuming otherwise on Saturday morning, though, when Trump retweeted an article about […]

Kawhi Leonard’s recruiting efforts caught Paul George by surprise, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Leonard was able to convince George to request a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard and George now form an elite dynamic duo with the Clippers, who are title contenders with the two All-Stars […]

As the entire NBA world reacts to the mammoth news that Kawhi Leonard will be playing in Los Angeles as a member of the LA Clippers next season, one former Clipper was interviewed by TMZ Sports regarding his thoughts on Kawhi joining the Clips. “I think it’s good for basketball, good for L.A.,” Blake Griffin […]

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri has issued a statement on the departures of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in free agency. Leonard is joining the Los Angeles Clippers, while Green is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers. In his statement, Ujiri thanked Green and Leonard for their services in Toronto. The Raptors won the 2019 […]

Kawhi Leonard “recruited the hell out” of Paul George to request a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Leonard’s tactics worked, as George went to the Thunder, demanded a trade and is now on his way to the Clippers with Leonard. Enter Paul George, the Oklahoma City star […]

Kevin Durant’s mind was made up: He would team up with Kyrie Irving to join the Brooklyn Nets in free agency. Before his decision could officially be made public, though, the two-time Finals MVP apparently received a phone call that had him briefly reconsidering his plans. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Kawhi Leonard called Durant […]

Paul George reportedly had a strong opinion about the chance to return home and join Kawhi Leonard on the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard has finally made his choice on where he’ll play next season, with the Clippers luring him away from the Toronto Raptors. However, one of the biggest reasons behind Leonard’s decision was the […]

The Toronto Raptors couldn’t have made a better case to Kawhi Leonard. They let him set the terms of “load management” during the regular season, shrugging off widespread criticism. They mortgaged the future by trading for Marc Gasol at the deadline, keeping pace in an Eastern Conference arms race. Nick Nurse pulled all the right […]

Although the Clippers’ acquisition of Paul George may have been the final determinant in Kawhi Leonard’s decision to head to Los Angeles, the head coach of the Clippers also played a significant role. According to ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Leonard had a strong desire to play for Doc Rivers, someone with whom he felt […]

The Los Angeles Clippers shocked the NBA community by trading for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George and signing NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, immediately elevating their status in the Western Conference with just one bold stroke. But after the Clippers began the regular season as the presumptive favorites to land Leonard in the summer, […]

Before the 2018-19 NBA regular season had even begun, people in the NBA community had begun to speculate where Kawhi Leonard would sign in the summer of 2019. One of the early favorites were the Los Angeles Clippers, a team with a young and improving core, a championship head coach in Doc Rivers and the […]

The Los Angeles Clippers sent the entire basketball world into a frenzy after it acquired both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The move was certainly out of left field as many speculated that the Leonard sweepstakes was down to the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers. However, […]

The Los Angeles Clippers pulled one of the all-time NBA free agency heists in the middle of the night, trading for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George and coming to terms with Kawhi Leonard to form one of the most dangerous partnerships in the league. Leonard had apparently turned his attention to recruiting George as […]

Not even a call, Kawhi? While the NBA was losing its mind in the middle of the night due to the mind-bending news of the signing paired with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s trade to send Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard let his (now-)former Toronto Raptors teammates know his decision via text. […]

Kawhi Leonard’s awaited free agency announcement shook the NBA after five days of an excruciating wait to hear his ultimate decision. His choice to join the L.A. Clippers on a four-year, $142 million max deal was soon followed by news that the Clippers would acquire his next partner in crime — trading for Paul George […]

All-Star unrestricted free agent forward Kawhi Leonard has decided on a team in Los Angeles, but it’s not the Lakers. Leonard is going with the Clippers and bringing his All-NBA pal Paul George with him in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder—yet the Lakers were confident they were still involved as a possible Kawhi […]