Thanks to five NBA championships and numerous Hall of Famers, including four inducted in the last four years, a number of dates stand out in San Antonio Spurs lore. From their title-clinching victories to historic draft nights that landed David Robinson, Tim Duncan and, more recently, Victor Wembanyama, most of those significant dates deliver great memories for fans of the Silver and Black. The key word there is “most,” as in, not all.
The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard trade
Before May 16 of this year — when the Spurs won the NBA Lottery and the right to draft Wemby — July 18, 2018, ranked as the most relevant recent date in Spurs history. It marked the trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a draft pick that would become current Spurs staple Keldon Johnson.
The 2014 NBA Finals MVP was supposed to take the baton from Tim Duncan and lead the next great Spurs era, but Leonard soured on the franchise during the 2017-2018 season, uncomfortable initially with a leg injury diagnosis. It eventually turned into the kind of saga the Spurs weren't used to dealing with. Leonard left the team, confusing Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich among others, and forced a trade in the summer of 2018.
The superstar forward earned another NBA Finals MVP a year later in winning his second ring. The Spurs have only made the playoffs once since, a first-round exit that same season in which the Raptors won their first ring.
Wemby vs. Kawhi
The rebuild comes full circle Sunday night in Los Angeles when Leonard and his Los Angeles Clippers host Wemby and the Spurs. San Antonio enters with the greatest prospect in a generation coming off numerous impressive moments in his first two NBA games. With Kawhi now in his fourth season in LA since joining the Clippers as a free agent, the Spurs get set for their first road game of the season and a new era…thanks, in part, to Kawhi Leonard.
Follow Us
Subscribe