Spurs Fan Since DRob Days - Any Kwahi Supporter Here? This One Is On The Management

[apalisoc_9]

One lf three best threads in the ladt few days

[SnakeBoy]

Thread le summary is ridiculous so I'm not going to read, but it looks like you put a great deal of thought and effort into justifying a ridiculous position so congrats on that.

[Strategic]

The same DRob who tossed shade on draft night. Give yourself credence on that? KL’s body is hurt then his little feelings got hurt. Welcome to the world. Keep up these stupid post and you’ll fit right in here.

[duncan2k5]

Ppl act like a team u busted ur ass to play for and carry old guys to the top, then using those same old players and coach to imply ur faking an injury isn't enough to piss off ANY nba player...

[SnakeBoy]

He was either faking injury or he's faking healthy now. Take your pick.

[SAGirl]

You have to give a cliff notes version

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

He was either faking injury or he's faking healthy now. Take your pick.

yes

and injury or no injury, kawhi could have solved the PR disaster by having a staffer issue a statement signed by him laying out exactly what his deal is

[tmtcsc]

Kwahi is a gym rat who just doesn't buy lavish things, I highly doubt money is the MAIN factor here. He would make more money overall with a max contract as a #1 player in SA than a #2 guy in LA, even with bigger endorsements in LA.

Kawhi doesn't stand to make more money but his Uncle sure as does. He's not doing this for free. He gets a percentage of all Kawhi's deals. He's a greedy son of a who's telling KL that no one appreciates or respects him - namely Jordan Brand & the Spurs. According to the ESPN report from Wright and Shelburne, he already has KL invested in property in the NY area. Two bit carpet bagger leading his newphew to financial ruin most likely. KL's a grown man but his Uncle is giving him horrible, horrible advice and ruining his reputation in the process.

When Kwahi came back from injury, he was clearly not himself. Spurs medical staff definitely made a mistake somewhere. With the Isiah Thomas situation fresh on everyone's mind, and Spurs reluctant to give him max contract / allowed him to play with injuries in the past, his uncle rightfully pursued second opinion. I am sure both sides agreed there was some sort of misdiagnosis, one of Kwahi's last media interviews was cut short by Spurs staff in public. Both sides probably agreed to not speak of the situation, and Kwahi went under the radar.

I agree, he didn't look 100%. Being out of shape will do that to you. Besides looking winded, he looked a little pudgier than usual. Hey man, I supported KL at first & thought the same as you did because I didn't want to believe anyone was capable of pulling this sort of stunt. To get paid $20Mill and purposely sit out in order to gain a trade later down the line? That's ugly.

Kawhi didn't just get a second opinion, it apparently took the 7th or 8th opinion to hear what his Uncle wanted. Amazingly, it came from one of the Philadelphia 76ers doctors. How messed up is that? They shopped KL's injury around until one of them (with a potentially vested interest) would say - "Yeah, I would sit out and let that thing heal for....I don't know, the remainder of the season. But don't worry, we'll just say you're making progress and might return so it doesn't look too bad for you in the public's eye". I wonder if his group is pissed at the other doctors too.

Parker's team meeting did a lot of damage to the overall relationship. Parker was very reluctant to hand the team to Kwahi, Pop had to yell at him on national TV to pass the ball to Kwahi! If you remember, after the 2014 victory over the Heat, Kwahi's most memorable line to Pop was "thank you for trusting me". The truth is, Spurs culture is built on military-like hierarchy, and Pop usually has a short leash on the younger guys, and gave his trusted veterans a lot more minutes/plays. Kwahi probably had years of frustration about not getting more plays called for him, even in 2015 after he won the finals MVP. And the transition of the team between Parker and Kwahi was probably nowhere near as smooth as DRob => Duncan => Parker behind the scenes, because Parker is a lot closer to a typical NBA star than Duncan/Robinson's selfless nature. We are talking about someone who cheated with a teammate's wife here. Being a quiet and sensitive guy since his father's death, Kwahi is not the type to confront a Spurs icon like Parker in public, but he will remember every little detail.

C'mon man. I'm no Parker fan and I think he had an agenda to publicly side with the FO, but when Pop sent him to the bench, this one time Finals MVP, 15 year veteran said "I'm here to do what Pop asks me to do. I want to do what's best for the team". I'm sure it hurt his pride but he put the team first. All that other stuff you said is nonsense. Kawhi was clearly the star of this team. The vets are respected but Leonard was being talked about as the premiere 2-way player in the league and perhaps the best. You think Parker isn't going to step aside? WTF? [/QUOTE]

The "team before me" culture translates into reduced stats and smaller contract for star players, and they will look at Richard Jefferson, LMA's before/after production and take notice.

The "team before me" culture has translated in to 5 Championships, the reputation as the best run franchise in Sports, at least 4 hall of famers who will have most likely played their entire careers with 1 team,...man it goes on and on. If Kawhi Leonard wanted more publicity and marketing opportunities he could have easily made himself a friendlier target. Instead, he wanted his privacy (his cake) and endorsements (eating his cake). Can't have both. MJ looked like a saint in front of the cameras but is notoriously a to people behind the scenes. Uncle should have told KL to play nice in front of the cameras.

It is just bad luck. Pop obviously had a lot going on in his life, just didn't get a chance to do the same for Kwahi as he did for LMA. Kwahi is even more private/sensitive than LMA, if Kwahi put in a private trade request after the Parker meeting, Pop would have solved the problem right there and then like he did for LMA.

[tmtcsc]

apalisoc_9
duncan2k5

[tmtcsc]

Kawhi's injuries began here:

I'm not sure he ever got over Pop punching him in the chest. Went looking for a safe space afterwards and never recovered. Thanks POP.

[sexinthatsx]

Kawhi's a beta, get over it. This isn't even KD levels of embarrassment by signing with the best team. The fact that you can't even man up and speak up to your entire team means:

A. you have something to hide (like an ulterior motive to leave since the beginning)
B. you are a mere sock puppet and doing what others are telling you to do

Parker's comments were out of frustration that Kawhi Leonard isn't playing when everybody is busting their ass to get into the playoffs. Anybody can put themselves in Parker's shoes and if there wasn't a way to reach out to Kawhi (since he was in NY) and hasn't even been in contact with the team, THE ONLY WAY the players could have reached out to him was calling him out via national media. There were numerous reports that there was no communication throughout the entire season between them. It was a last resort.

You can be a spurs fan since the DRob Days, but you don't seem to know all the facts before understanding why the Spurs and their players did what they did.

[alpha_HaZE]

See the point is that if Kawhi wants to leave because of the Management mistreated him one way or another, then I think the Management can resolve any issues he might have.

To me I think, he wants to go because he wants to win. Same as Timmy. SAS does not seem like a viable contender right now. Our players are either past their primes or young and inexperienced.

[MultiTroll]

LMA and Popped psssssh.

2016 Kwa was lit, after the all star break he continued on a tear that would have landed him a Real MVP over LeBron.

But but but *CIA Popped* had to get LMA more shots lest his vagina get more sore.
Offense died, ran thru LMA while Kwa had to become essentially the 2nd option.
Of course it completely backfired.

[tholdren]

Kwahi is a gym rat who just doesn't buy lavish things, I highly doubt money is the MAIN factor here. He would make more money overall with a max contract as a #1 player in SA than a #2 guy in LA, even with bigger endorsements in LA.

When Kwahi came back from injury, he was clearly not himself. Spurs medical staff definitely made a mistake somewhere. With the Isiah Thomas situation fresh on everyone's mind, and Spurs reluctant to give him max contract / allowed him to play with injuries in the past, his uncle rightfully pursued second opinion. I am sure both sides agreed there was some sort of misdiagnosis, one of Kwahi's last media interviews was cut short by Spurs staff in public. Both sides probably agreed to not speak of the situation, and Kwahi went under the radar.

Parker's team meeting did a lot of damage to the overall relationship. Parker was very reluctant to hand the team to Kwahi, Pop had to yell at him on national TV to pass the ball to Kwahi! If you remember, after the 2014 victory over the Heat, Kwahi's most memorable line to Pop was "thank you for trusting me". The truth is, Spurs culture is built on military-like hierarchy, and Pop usually has a short leash on the younger guys, and gave his trusted veterans a lot more minutes/plays. Kwahi probably had years of frustration about not getting more plays called for him, even in 2015 after he won the finals MVP. And the transition of the team between Parker and Kwahi was probably nowhere near as smooth as DRob => Duncan => Parker behind the scenes, because Parker is a lot closer to a typical NBA star than Duncan/Robinson's selfless nature. We are talking about someone who cheated with a teammate's wife here. Being a quiet and sensitive guy since his father's death, Kwahi is not the type to confront a Spurs icon like Parker in public, but he will remember every little detail.

The "family business" meeting from Parker, and lack of support from the management, pushed Kwahi over the edge. The fact Spurs allowed someone a year or two away from retirement to call out their #1 player in the locker room, and did not speak up for Kwahi in the media immediately right after, that is unheard of. Pop could have easily took Kwahi off the day-to-day list and shelved him permanently until he says "I am ready coach", instead he was giving a lot of little hints to the media, that Kwahi may be faking his injury, tried to pressure his franchise player in public! Sure, Pop was dealing with his wife's health issues, but this was without any question a huge mistake. The "everyone is equal" culture was built because Duncan could be yelled at by Pop in front of everyone. But Duncan was the once in a life time star. Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Durant, none of them would allow someone like Parker to challenge them in the locker room. Make no mistake about it, players are NOT equal in the locker room, superstars expect special treatments. Pop, while handling his wife's situation, and also used to dealing with Duncan, was blindsided by Kwahi's sensitivity, and what 2018 franchise players expect from their teams.

The truth is, Spurs received back-to-back trade demands from its #1 and #2 players, with Pop a year or two from retirement, we as a destination for free agents, including ones we develop, is going to take a huge dive. Spurs also had a disastrous off season, throwing away the equivalent of a maximum contract to . . . Gasol/Mills. The "team before me" culture translates into reduced stats and smaller contract for star players, and they will look at Richard Jefferson, LMA's before/after production and take notice.

Sure, Kwahi could have been a lot more open with his feelings, and speak like a leader/franchise player. But I am sure we have dealt with people like this before, they rarely speak up for themselves when confronted, you think they are low key / low maintenance, but they are very sensitive inside and by the time you realize they ac ulated too much anger within, the relationship is over and there is nothing you can do to change their mind. He is without any question at fault for unwilling to fight back for himself in media, LeBron/Kobe would have handled this 100 times better, they would have never allowed their feeling to be hurt by someone like Parker, they would have thrown down the gauntlet, trade him or I leave. But Kwahi is who he is, he trusted his coach and management to defend him at all costs after his injury turned out to be worse than it appeared, he got the opposite from them, hence the feeling of betrayal.

It is just bad luck. Pop obviously had a lot going on in his life, just didn't get a chance to do the same for Kwahi as he did for LMA. Kwahi is even more private/sensitive than LMA, if Kwahi put in a private trade request after the Parker meeting, Pop would have solved the problem right there and then like he did for LMA.

What does you having been a fan since 50 have to do with the trash you posted? David supported pop and sa during the draft....

[SAGirl]

Kawhi's injuries began here:

I'm not sure he ever got over Pop punching him in the chest. Went looking for a safe space afterwards and never recovered. Thanks POP.

Even the mild old man punches hurt!!!!

[james evans]

Eitehr way, I aint mad he doesn't want to play for us and I aint mad at him for screwing us over. I mean, we're the team that chose Mills/Gasol over Dedmond/Simmons. That is still mind boggling

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Kawhi's injuries began here:

I'm not sure he ever got over Pop punching him in the chest. Went looking for a safe space afterwards and never recovered. Thanks POP.

There's some evidence of his toughness.