*I did not write this but....
*
Kawhi Leonard is out here playing 4D chess.
He never wanted to play with LeBron James or join a superteam, but he took a meeting with the Lakers and remained in constant communication anyway.
The Los Angeles Lakers were convinced they had their guy and Kawhi clearly never gave them a reason to feel differently.
But it makes sense that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Dragging this whole thing out meant the Lakers ran out of time to sign a third star.
They also missed out on every half-decent free agent (other than Danny Green, ironically).
Kawhi’s people even contacted the Lakers two hours before making the Clippers announcement, asking them to hold off on making the Anthony Davis trade official, according to ESPN.
And it wasn’t just the Lakers that Leonard drove a knife into.
By helping Paul George escape OKC, he destroyed Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.
He vaporised the Raptors’ chances of defending their title or even contending at all.
He ended the Warriors’ dynasty and even indirectly ended Kevin Durant.
Kawhi was the reason the Raptors were up 3-1 in the Finals, which pushed Durant to return before he was ready and suffer the most devastating injury in basketball.
So, Leonard sabotaged one contender and completely annihilated two others all at once.
Throw in the San Antonio Spurs and that’s four contenders ticked off his hit list.
On and off the court, Kawhi Leonard is a cold-blooded killer, making moves none of us thought a Fun Guy was ever capable of.