ILoveOranges
10-30-2015, 07:17 AM
Wanted to provide visibility for this article. Great piece from Kawhi's alma mater
From Mark Ziegler of The San Diego Union-Tribune
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/27/kawhi-leonard-spurs-contract-sdsu/
http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2015/10/28/B8816306Z.1_20151028143513_000GPF4EPO6.5-0_r900x493.jpg?122770e84b36f1c039d5c4c2ca15c2d8bc4 ecd52
Kawhi Leonard: A rich man, not a changed man
SDSU alum enters his fifth NBA season having signed a five-year $94 million “max contract”
Kawhi Leonard signed his new NBA contract – five years, $94,343,130 – in San Diego last July. The San Antonio Spurs legal counsel flew out, and they booked a conference room in the La Jolla Colony apartment complex where the 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward spent his summer.
Leonard showed up wearing workout gear. He was in the middle of shooting drills at a nearby gym, the second of (yes) three daily sessions, and happened to look at the clock and realized he had to be somewhere.He signed the paperwork for the “max contract” that is technically for four years with a player’s option for a fifth and averages to $18.8 million per season. He shook hands. Posed for some quick photos. And then motioned to Taylor Cunningham, his former high school teammate and part of his offseason practice group.They had to go. They had had another hour at the gym.“I was scheduled to work out,” Leonard says, “so I did.”Leonard did “celebrate” with his agent and close friends at a local steakhouse that night, but he politely cut the night short. He had a two-hour session in the weight room at 8 a.m. the next morning, followed by 2½ hours on the court at 11:30, followed by another hour or so of ballhandling and shooting in the late afternoon or evening.“He’ll be knocking on my bedroom door at 7,” Cunningham says. “He’s like, ‘Get up. Let’s go.’ People think we’re going out, having fun, going to parties, going to clubs. It’s not like that. We’re working hard. We go to bed early.”
“I’m just trying to be the best player I can be,” said Leonard, who averaged 19.2 points and shot 53.9 percent (40.6 percent behind the 3-point arc) over the final two months of last season. “I’m just trying to pass Tim Duncan in championships if I can one day. That’s my motivation, that’s what I strive for. Tim is one of the greatest players who has ever played, so if I could get close or reach that plateau and have my name on that list ...”
More at: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/27/kawhi-leonard-spurs-contract-sdsu/
From Mark Ziegler of The San Diego Union-Tribune
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/27/kawhi-leonard-spurs-contract-sdsu/
http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2015/10/28/B8816306Z.1_20151028143513_000GPF4EPO6.5-0_r900x493.jpg?122770e84b36f1c039d5c4c2ca15c2d8bc4 ecd52
Kawhi Leonard: A rich man, not a changed man
SDSU alum enters his fifth NBA season having signed a five-year $94 million “max contract”
Kawhi Leonard signed his new NBA contract – five years, $94,343,130 – in San Diego last July. The San Antonio Spurs legal counsel flew out, and they booked a conference room in the La Jolla Colony apartment complex where the 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward spent his summer.
Leonard showed up wearing workout gear. He was in the middle of shooting drills at a nearby gym, the second of (yes) three daily sessions, and happened to look at the clock and realized he had to be somewhere.He signed the paperwork for the “max contract” that is technically for four years with a player’s option for a fifth and averages to $18.8 million per season. He shook hands. Posed for some quick photos. And then motioned to Taylor Cunningham, his former high school teammate and part of his offseason practice group.They had to go. They had had another hour at the gym.“I was scheduled to work out,” Leonard says, “so I did.”Leonard did “celebrate” with his agent and close friends at a local steakhouse that night, but he politely cut the night short. He had a two-hour session in the weight room at 8 a.m. the next morning, followed by 2½ hours on the court at 11:30, followed by another hour or so of ballhandling and shooting in the late afternoon or evening.“He’ll be knocking on my bedroom door at 7,” Cunningham says. “He’s like, ‘Get up. Let’s go.’ People think we’re going out, having fun, going to parties, going to clubs. It’s not like that. We’re working hard. We go to bed early.”
“I’m just trying to be the best player I can be,” said Leonard, who averaged 19.2 points and shot 53.9 percent (40.6 percent behind the 3-point arc) over the final two months of last season. “I’m just trying to pass Tim Duncan in championships if I can one day. That’s my motivation, that’s what I strive for. Tim is one of the greatest players who has ever played, so if I could get close or reach that plateau and have my name on that list ...”
More at: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/27/kawhi-leonard-spurs-contract-sdsu/