Clippers head coach Doc Rivers didn’t really reveal anything new in his interview with the Los Angeles Times early last week. Certainly, he was forthright and candid as he recounted to columnist Arash Markazi details behind Kawhi Leonard’s decision to head to “the other tenant” of Staples Center last July. Then again, he disclosed nothing of substance. Even casual observers knew the season-long courtship that occurred between franchise and primary target, and to a point, he said, where “we were warned that no more Clippers players, coaches, or employees could go to games in Toronto. We were sending guys to go sit in the stands.”
True, Leonard kept the entire National Basketball Association guessing until the end of the first week of free agency. Was he going to the Lakers or staying with the Raptors? Then again, it didn’t take long before all and sundry understood the extent of his desire to latch on to the Clippers — so much so that he even got Paul George to leave the Thunder. That said, Rivers succeeded in shining the light on one thing: the reigning Finals Most Valuable Player’s ruthless determination to carve his own destiny. He knew what he wanted, and did everything he could to get it.
Under the circumstances, it’s fair to argue that Rivers engaged in embellishment for effect. All the same, Leonard’s capacity to negotiate from a position of strength was clear. Quiet and reticent on the outside, but completely unreserved and unrestrained in private. “He said, ‘I want to play for you’ and he pointed at me. He said, ‘Mr. [Steve] Ballmer (Clippers owner), I love the things you do and what you stand for, but your team is not good enough and if you don’t change your team, I’m not coming.’” Which got them around to talking about his ideal partner: “We just showed him guys that we thought would match him and when he saw Paul George’s name he said, ‘I want to play with him.’”
In any case, Rivers is right. Winning Leonard over was one thing. Winning the championship is another. If nothing else, though, they’re favorites to emerge with the Larry O’Brien Trophy for a reason: They have the three-time All-Star leading their cause — on paper for at least the next two years, in reality until he doesn’t want to anymore. The stage is set, the spotlight’s on him, and time will tell if the fifth franchise whose future he has directly altered will be all the better as a result.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
