- [Narrator] It's incredible how much Kawhi Leonard
fit the San Antonio Spurs ethos.
A reclusive team-first superstar
who rarely showed emotions and only cared about hooping.
San Antonio is a model franchise
that's often been called bland, boring,
or as I like to say, sauce-less.
But whatever you want to call them,
their success on the court has spoken values.
On paper, Kawhi and the Spurs
were a match made in heaven
who appeared to be locked in with each other
until the end of time.
Except the relationship that seemed to be unbreakable
from the outside, ultimately deteriorated
behind the scenes resulting in a messy divorce.
Kawhi played his last meaningful minutes
as a Spur against the Golden State Warriors
during the 2017 Western Conference finals.
The events that unfolded afterward altered
not only the course of a franchise, but the entire NBA.
I hope you're hungry, because what followed that
was a giant serving of beef.
On May 11th, 2017, the Spurs showed no signs
of slowing down as a franchise.
After handing out an absolute ass whooping
to the Houston Rockets in game six
of the Western Conference Semifinals,
the Spurs were riding the high of making
their 5th conference finals appearance in 10 seasons.
Kawhi was the head honcho for this team
since Tim Duncan retired in 2016,
and as the new leader, he led San Antonio
through the first two rounds of the playoffs
to set up a showdown with the mighty Golden State Warriors.
The Spurs unfortunately entered the series banged up.
Star point guard Tony Parker suffered a season-ending
quad injury in the semifinals
and Kawhi tweaked his ankle in that same series,
even missing the clenching game.
But despite the injuries, journalists agree
the Spurs had some chance of knocking off
the heavily favored Warriors, mainly thanks to Kawhi.
And when game one tipped off, Kawhi came out cooking.
He knocked down the night's first basket
with a smooth pull up.
Later in the quarter, after snagging a wild pass
from Steph Curry, Kawhi drove the lane and yammed with ease.
His ankle appeared to be holding up just fine.
Over the next two quarters, Kawhi and the Spurs
were at the Warrior's neck,
running up the score on their home floor.
Kawhi hit a corner three over the outstretched arms
of Kevin Durant putting San Antonio up 18
with a little under 10 to play in the third.
But when Kawhi tried to make his way up the court,
he rolled his already injured ankle
and immediately hit the floor in pain.
Kawhi sat on the bench for a few minutes,
re-entered the game, trying to extend
the Spurs' commanding lead, and then went down again.
This time after twisting his ankle
under the foot of Warrior center, Zaza Pachulia.
After a sensational performance,
Kawhi wouldn't return to the game or the series.
And following his exit with a little
under eight minutes to play in the third,
the Warriors immediately went on an 18 to 0 run
over the next three and a half minutes
en route to wiping out San Antonio's 23 point lead
to win game one, the first of a four game sweep.
As easy as the Warriors made it look,
for nearly three-quarters, Kawhi and the Spurs
had the Warriors in a choke hold,
and were on the verge of snatching a pivotal game one
which could have drastically altered the final outcome.
Looking ahead to next season,
it felt safe to assume that, with a healthy Kawhi,
San Antonio would be right back in the mix.
The thing about assumptions though,
you kind of make an ass outta yourself,
because not a single soul could have predicted
what transpired during the 2017/18 season.
But to truly appreciate the tenderness of this beef,
you have to understand that it's arguably the most
improbable feud that occurred in NBA history.
The San Antonio Spurs are undoubtedly
one of the best operated professional sports franchises.
Over the span of nearly 20 years,
San Antonio set the standard for success on the court
and exemplified a unique class off of it,
rarely ever being in the spotlight
for anything other than winning.
Throughout that timeframe, under Head Coach Gregg Popovich
and General Manager R.C. Buford,
the Spurs built a lengthy history
of sustaining solid relationships with their star players.
In 2000, Duncan explored free agency
nearly becoming a member of the Orlando Magic,
but Pop and veteran center, David Robinson
convinced him to stay and the rest is history.
Even when the rare drama occurred,
the Spurs handled everything in house.
In 2010, the franchise experienced a scandal
involving teammates Tony Parker and Brent Barry,
where Parker got caught sexting Barry's wife,
although Parker was married to actress Eva Longoria.
Parker's infidelity caused problems
throughout the organization,
leading the Spurs to almost trade him.
But after handling the issue internally,
San Antonio kept it pushing with Parker
and continued their winning ways as if nothing happened.
This isn't to make light of a serious situation,
because Parker for sure acted like an asshole.
But the franchise was able to quickly squash the juicy topic
before it had the opportunity to spiral out of control.
That drama preceded the 2011 NBA draft,
which among it's class included
the extremely conflict-free Leonard.
After two seasons at San Diego State University,
Kawhi entered the 2011 draft as a potential top 10 pick.
At SDSU, Kawhi excelled defensively
using his terrific length and quickness
to terrorize opponents while playing
every possession like it was his last.
Offensively though, Kawhi had a streaky jumper
and scouts feared that he didn't have any aspect of his game
that allowed him to score consistently.
Despite the lack of a fully developed offensive bag,
scouts saw the potential in Kawhi's game
and projected he could range anywhere
from a great role player to a versatile star,
drawing comparisons to the likes
of Gerald Wallace and Shawn Marion.
San Antonio had the 29th pick in the draft
and the team never traded up,
typically finding immense value in late round picks.
The odds of Kawhi falling to the Spurs
seemed like a long shot, but San Antonio took a gamble
and did something extremely unusual for them.
As Kawhi unexpectedly failed down the board,
the Spurs swung a deal with the Indiana Pacers
and drafted Kawhi 15th overall, making him
the highest elected Spurs player Since Timmy in 1997.
The Spurs sent off promising point guard George Hill
in the trade, who the team had developed
and proved to be a reliable floor general while Parker sat.
But on the surface, by making such a rare draft day trade,
it appeared the Spurs
were fully confident in Kawhi abilities.
Although Pop didn't necessarily remember it that way.
The front office acted hesitant in trading Hill,
and Pop was scared shitless because he agreed
with nearly every criticism
that scouts had of Kawhi's skill set.
It also didn't calm San Antonio's fears
that the team hardly knew anything about Kawhi personally.
It wasn't a lack of effort in getting to know him,
Kawhi was just an introvert who hardly ever talked.
The franchise had to make sense of his character
based on stories like Kawhi bringing his own lamps
to early morning workout sessions.
So they at least knew the dude was a hard worker,
and ultimately Kawhi's relentless dedication
to working on his game drove him to the Spurs
by pure happenstance.
During the NBA draft combine,
most top prospects are encouraged
not to participate in drills,
but that's simply not in Kawhi's nature.
After hanging out and watching other players
put their talent on display, Kawhi decided enough was enough
and got some shots up himself.
After 10 minutes of work, Kawhi got tossed from the court
but that small window of time was enough
to convince Spurs' Shooting Coach Chip Engelland
that the team needed to have him.
Engelland had gained the reputation as the shot doctor
around the league and noted Kawhi had good form,
but his mechanics weren't sharp.
He worked on altering Leonard's release point
hoping to reconstruct his jump shot.
While Engelland believed Kawhi could dramatically
improve his offensive game with some retooling,
Pop thought Kawhi had the potential
to be a top defender in the league
and pushed him to be Bruce Bowen times 10.
It's a tough ask to emulate the defensive output
of the former Spurs icon, but Kawhi quickly proved
to be among the NBA's elite and met Pop's challenge
by earning back-to-back Defensive Player
of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016.
Pop saw Kawhi's potential early on
and believed after his rookie season,
he could one day become the face of the franchise.
While Kawhi had shown signs
of possibly meeting his coach's prophecy,
he didn't view himself in the same light.
After a stellar defensive performance
during the 2013 NBA finals,
Kawhi was reminded of his coaches' praise
but he only saw himself as a role player.
It was a typical Spursian response,
sacrificing self glory for team success.
But Kawhi understood the team belonged to the big three
and he played off of them.
By 2015 though, that was no longer the case.
Beyond being a matchup nightmare
for anyone going at him, over the years,
Kawhi slowly but surely developed into
the offensive threat that Engelland believed he could be.
Kawhi's once inconsistent jumper was no longer a weakness
as he saw immense improvement in his shooting percentages
especially from three.
He became a true focal point of the offense,
with Pop transferring plays to Kawhi
that had long been saved for Manu.
More importantly, with a well-rounded offensive arsenal,
Kawhi had the ability to absorb the duties
and take pressure off the Spurs' Mighty Trio,
extending the success of the franchise.
Something he proved on the grandest stage
during the 2014 NBA finals, leading the team in scoring
over the last three games, earning him finals MVP.
Kawhi helped rejuvenate the Spurs and Buford applauded him
for changing the course of the organization
as they continued their path towards dynasty status.
He didn't play for recognition and instead,
focused on being the best player he could possibly be,
striving to someday rack up more rings than Timmy.
More than Kawhi's obvious talent,
his approach to the game fully matched the org's mindset
and as the big three started to age,
San Antonio inked Kawhi to a five year max contract
in 2015 signaling he would usher in
the new era of San Antonio basketball.
If there were ever to be an heir to take over
Timmy's throne, Kawhi had proven to be the perfect candidate
and by the spring of 2017, had all but cemented his place.
Except, it's quite difficult to be a leader
of a team when you're hardly with them.
During the spring of 2017, San Antonio saw their hopes
of competing for a sixth NBA title
disappear When Kawhi injured his ankle against the Warriors.
But heading into the 2017/18 season,
Kawhi's ankle became the least of the franchises concerns.
Like most teams, San Antonio held
an intra-squad scrimmage before the start of the preseason
and to the surprise of everyone in attendance,
Kawhi wasn't present.
The team announced Kawhi had been continuing
a rehab program, but for something
other than the injury we knew about.
It was shocking news,
but Pop calmed the fears of San Antonio fans
and said the issue had been something
that lingered from last year
and wasn't connected to his ankle injury.
Pop didn't wanna put a timetable on Kawhi's return,
but said there was a good chance
he would miss preseason action.
Missed preseason games eventually developed
into Kawhi essentially being a no-show all season,
causing teammates to question his dedication
including veteran leaders, Ginobili and Parker.
Manu grew tired of fielding questions
regarding Kawhi's status
about when he would ever rejoin the team.
Parker was confused as to why Kawhi
refused to suit up during the season,
even though he suffered a similar injury to Kawhi,
one that Parker thought was 100 times worse.
If you recall during the Spurs 2017 post-season run,
Parker suffered a serious quad injury
that many believe could have potentially ended his career.
But after months of rehabbing during the off-season,
TP miraculously suited up for the Spurs in November 2017,
eight games before Kawhi clocked
his first minutes of the season.
Watching Parker compete after last being seen on the court
in excruciating pain during the 2017 playoffs
had to be a relief for Spurs fans.
But it also brought into question
Kawhi's odd timetable to return from the same injury.
How Kawhi's quad issue went from a lingering injury
from the previous season to him barely playing
during the 2017/18 season is a convoluted story.
Two weeks after Pop said Kawhi would miss preseason games,
San Antonio confirmed he would miss
the season opener as well.
Pop still wouldn't put a timetable on his return,
but confirmed Kawhi had been rehabbing
and when he's ready, he'll be ready.
Pop couldn't call it.
So as you can imagine, it certainly didn't calm the nerves
of Spurs fans when Kawhi got spotted a week later
struggling to board the plane
for the team's first road trip of the season.
Seeing a limping Leonard sparked a wave of confusion
across the league and even Pop himself was bewildered.
In his 40 years of coaching, Pop said he'd never
seen an issue like Kawhi's quad injury.
For Pop, the injury was especially strange
seeing how Kawhi and Parker had the same injury,
with Parker's being far worse.
Pop's comments were a bit odd,
seeing how he's usually extremely direct with the media.
But he did reassure journalists that Kawhi
would be back sooner rather than later
when asked if there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
A comment that Pop immediately walked back
as soon as the words left his lips.
In December, 2017 though, after missing 27 games,
Kawhi ended any confusion
when he suited up for the first time.
And he looked decent.
He was obviously playing himself into shape.
But after a month of play where he sat in back to back games
Kawhi put up solid numbers in a nine game stretch
that at least inspired confidence he could return
to his dominant self when fully healthy.
Except that didn't appear to be any time soon.
After a blowout win against the Denver Nuggets
in January, 2018 where Kawhi nearly dropped a double dub,
San Antonio ruled him out indefinitely
due to recurring trouble with his quad.
Buford thought Kawhi had made great progress
and believed the best approach would be for him
to continue rehabbing.
Pop voiced his concerns that the injury
hadn't responded the way the team wanted,
but understood Kawhi had been working hard to get back
and although he didn't reinjure the quad,
sitting him for a while would be the right move health wise.
Pop didn't think it would end Kawhi's season,
but shutting him down was a collaborative effort
with input from Kawhi himself.
From my understanding, a collaborative effort
is when two or more parties come together
in order to successfully achieve a goal
but it appeared that Kawhi and the Spurs
were nowhere near being on the same page.
A few days after being ruled out indefinitely,
ESPN seemingly out of nowhere reported
there had been a growing rift between Kawhi and the Spurs
over the handling of his quad injury.
It's really no surprise a player of Leonard's caliber
would be frustrated by an injury derailing his season,
but it was absolutely stunning to hear
the Spurs were involved in any type of team feud.
San Antonio and Kawhi's Camp denied the report
with both sides agreeing they've been locked in
on finding the best solution for everyone involved.
Given the Spurs' track record,
given the little we knew about Kawhi,
shit, even the fact Kawhi's uncle
was coming out to speak for him,
it was easy to believe them all.
No issue here.
But over time, we clearly learned
that was an attempt to save face.
Otherwise this would've never been a possibility.
And just a little bit of drama went down
to get us to that point.
Yo, thanks for watching, but we ain't done just yet.
We got plenty of more beef to come,
so don't forget to like and subscribe
and keep on coming back.