Kawhi Leonard has made no shortage of headlines in recent weeks.
But according to Bill Simmons, the stories may have also come as news to Leonard too.
On the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Ringer founder discussed the recent saga surrounding the Los Angeles Clippers star stemming from Pablo Torre’s reporting on an alleged no-show endorsement deal with ties to the team’s ownership. But while there’s no denying that the latest evidence is seemingly damning for the franchise, Simmons isn’t so sure that Leonard was in on the alleged scheme to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.
“I’m gonna give you my hottest take of this whole scandal. And I’m not saying I invented it, but I actually believe it might be true, but it’s also crazy. What if Kawhi just never knew about any of this?” the ex-ESPN columnist said.
Simmons proceeded to float the possibility that the agreement was arranged by Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, who was previously investigated by the NBA for allegedly seeking improper benefits. Although many have pointed to the no-show nature of the deal as a strike against Leonard, the Sports Guy believes it could be evidence that he was never clued in
“The smoking gun for this theory is Kawhi doesn’t wanna do any work. He doesn’t wanna have to do anything,” Simmons said. “Flip this around. Why would they be so determined to not have Kawhi do any work? Like, it’s actually easy to go film an ad for an hour. It’s easy to do like five tweets a year.
“This is more like, ‘Kawhi’s not gonna do anything. Is this understood? It’s gotta be, he gets paid to do work that he didn’t actually do.’ Almost like when you’re watching a movie or a TV show from the 70s or 80s and the guy is the fake job. And I wonder if maybe they constructed it that way so that Kawhi never knew about the money… I’m not ruling it out. I’m not ruling out anything.”
Simmons’ guest, Jason Concepcion, agreed that the theory is at least plausible. The two also listed off multiple examples of people who have made money off the names of celebrity relatives behind their backs.
It’s a compelling theory and would, if nothing else, explain one of the biggest questions of this entire saga. To Simmons’ point, the entire no-show aspect of the agreement could have been avoided with minimal work like a commercial shoot or a handful of social media posts.
Still, even if Kawhi Leonard was totally unaware of it, that likely wouldn’t clear the Clippers if it’s found that the team was involved in orchestrating the agreement. And while Torre’s latest reporting may have found the “smoking gun,” Simmons’ theory is a reminder that this is a story that’s still very much in its infancy.
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