Uncle Dennis Finally Talks! “They didn’t believe Kawhi couldn’t play and that caused a lack of trust"

[r0drig0lac]

The mistrust surrounding the injury definitely played a prominent role; Uncle Dennis isn't lying about that. It's difficult to point to the exact piece of hay that broke the camel's back but this was up there.

However, the downfall was actually many years in the making. There are layers to it.

The reason I don't say more is that to do so, I'd have to name names. There are like four or five prominent people right in the middle of the drama that media members don't really mention -- or only mention peripherally. Even if I drop vague hints, it'd take ST about five minutes to guess the names.

Everyone I've emailed with regarding further details has come to the same conclusion: not worth the consequences. The people involved would deny it and there's a good chance of being blackballed.

That said, I know some of the ESPN decision makers are now weighing whether to divulge more. With the Raptors in the Finals, they know it'd be a huge story that could be worth the blowback. I'd say there's a 50/50 chance they'll publish it in the next week.

[D-Robinson 50 fan]

I just now read timvps post.

"Years in the making" has probably something to do with the Spurs slow to give the reins to Kawhi and him always being in the big 3s shadow.

What probably offended Kawhi is some high executive probably said Kawhi wasnt on their level (yet)

The 4-5 people involved are probably the big 3 themselves saying Kawhi isnt ready. Or that hes an introvert. Or that he has no leadership. Some well known thing that Kawhi and his group probably couldnt accept.

Bottomline, i think pride was the main cause in all these things. This is my theory now.

As far as being blackballed...i think he was just referring to himself(timvp) and not actually people in the Spurs.
timvp, can you give me a little sign if im getting any of this right?

I could see Tim, Tony, and Manu thinking Kawhi needed to be a more vocal leader and thinking that he isn’t ready to be a leader until he gets better with that. I still don’t think that is something to be so vague about and timvp could’ve just said it’s people who felt that way and kept it moving. Lmao.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt he wasn’t getting star treatment while playing for the Spurs. The Spurs and Pop always had his back and gave him public and private praise but Pop also was hard on him like ever other player he coaches. So maybe Kawhi didn’t like that privately especially when hearing how other stars are treated.

I’m tired of hearing about this stuff with Kawhi but it’s hard not to hear about it now. Then after seeing timvp state cryptically some of the info he knows it just makes me want to find out what happened instead of just moving on.

[daslicer]

Robertson is a bad guy. Period. There is nothing humble about him and he is riding the meal ticket. He has been dredging up crap for more than three years via his work at Impact Sports.

A little clarity would be nice for once. Important U.S. government secrets are less protected by the media than the condition of KL's legs.

I feel the Mueller report is less protected than the #2 report. It's hard for me to believe this can be hidden forever.

[Clipper Nation]

Ginobili for anyone wondering played a bigger part in Kawhis departure than Tony tbh.

He was far more vocal in his disblief about Kawhis injury and was the leader of the lockeroom scene that wanted Kawhi to play regardless of how he felt about his injury.

I find that hard to believe. Manu was a great teammate and leader, unlike that selfish egomaniac Porker.

[jjktkk]

Its a real shame a great player like Leonard could not handle the pressure of carrying on the Spur's championship tradition. If he's smart he should resign with the Raptors. If he signs with the Lakers or Clippers, he'll shrink under the pressure of playing in L.A..

[Murray2k]

Winning really cures all.. As long as Kawhi plays at this level Spurs will be seen as the villain in this story by the majority unfortunately.

[Spurs Homer]

Tldr

Pop sucker on damage control. PATFO treated him like , being an alpha, he made crater face fly to California to tell him in his face he wanted out. Now he's in the finals while you lay your hope on instagram baller and his inspiring posts. RC got fleeced PERIOD.

Idiot.

This is not about Pop - at least Pop had the balls to show he cared by going out to Cali and meet the piece of coward who had zero integrity to even meet pop halfway -

after Pop had basically shaped Kawhi from a no shooting defensive semi specialist -into a complete player by having his staff correct his jump shot.

Pop also turned over the keys to the offense to Kawhi - even though Pop had older more established all stars and hall of famers - and how does your hero repay him?

By turning his back on an entire franchise because an old washed up player pointed out he was faking his injury and truthfully telling the world his injury was 100 times worse.

A real man would have shown up to camp - go into the locker room - and tell Parker to stfu - and gtfo of HIS team now.

I guarantee - at least Parker and the rest of the team would have respected the quitters toughness and balls.

Instead the pussy ran away and tried to get to L.A. - via toronto -

GTFO of here with that weak .

At least the Spurs are proven 5 time champs with respected hall of famers. There is zero reason to jump off the team for a piece of quitter and a traitor -

but you were never really a Spurs fan anyway - so gtfo - and go suck some more quitter nutsack.

[spursparker9]

Skip recapping the entire Kawhi incident...

[Russ]

This morning, Stephen A. Smith on First Take says "the Spurs look very bad today."

"For that stuff to be said right now, with Uncle Dennis coming out and publicly stating it the way that he did, that is not a good look for the San Antonio Spurs, there's no way around that."

Max Kellerman adds, "the San Antonio Spurs were imperfect, they made a miscalculation. . . Kawhi Leonard was hurt"

Kellerman contrasts the way Toronto handled it with "load management."

Kellerman further notes that Danny Green stuck up for Kawhi regarding "the team meeting" then Green also got shipped off to Toronto.

"The way they handled it, it seems to me, was wrong and I think Kawhi is proving that right now."

[Mugen]

And it'll just be the media taking the Spurs down for the foreseeable future, especially if Nephew rings....

Meanwhile the organization won't say anything or defend themselves. Probably just a "we congratulate Danny and Kawhi and the Raptors organization" on their championship kind of thing....

[r0drig0lac]

I just now read timvps post.

"Years in the making" has probably something to do with the Spurs slow to give the reins to Kawhi and him always being in the big 3s shadow.

What probably offended Kawhi is some high executive probably said Kawhi wasnt on their level (yet)

The 4-5 people involved are probably the big 3 themselves saying Kawhi isnt ready. Or that hes an introvert. Or that he has no leadership. Some well known thing that Kawhi and his group probably couldnt accept.

Bottomline, i think pride was the main cause in all these things. This is my theory now.

As far as being blackballed...i think he was just referring to himself(timvp) and not actually people in the Spurs.
timvp, can you give me a little sign if im getting any of this right?

no doubt about this

[Harry Callahan]

Shannon Sharpe really is a dunce. He throws out the "i'm a former athlete card" and that is supposed to override any divergent opinion. Please.

[RC_Drunkford]

Idiot.

This is not about Pop - at least Pop had the balls to show he cared by going out to Cali and meet the piece of coward who had zero integrity to even meet pop halfway -

after Pop had basically shaped Kawhi from a no shooting defensive semi specialist -into a complete player by having his staff correct his jump shot.

Pop also turned over the keys to the offense to Kawhi - even though Pop had older more established all stars and hall of famers - and how does your hero repay him?

By turning his back on an entire franchise because an old washed up player pointed out he was faking his injury and truthfully telling the world his injury was 100 times worse.

A real man would have shown up to camp - go into the locker room - and tell Parker to stfu - and gtfo of HIS team now.

I guarantee - at least Parker and the rest of the team would have respected the quitters toughness and balls.

Instead the pussy ran away and tried to get to L.A. - via toronto -

GTFO of here with that weak .

At least the Spurs are proven 5 time champs with respected hall of famers. There is zero reason to jump off the team for a piece of quitter and a traitor -

but you were never really a Spurs fan anyway - so gtfo - and go suck some more quitter nutsack.

this x 100

And it'll just be the media taking the Spurs down for the foreseeable future, especially if Nephew rings....

Meanwhile the organization won't say anything or defend themselves. Probably just a "we congratulate Danny and Kawhi and the Raptors organization" on their championship kind of thing....

I never understood why they let the media throw them under the bus like that and don't do anything about it

[daslicer]

Shannon Sharpe really is a dunce. He throws out the "i'm a former athlete card" and that is supposed to override any divergent opinion. Please.

I don't even bother to watch that clown show. Both Skip and Shannon are too cartoony and childish for me.

[Spurs Homer]

Skip recapping the entire Kawhi incident...

Skip pretty much nailed it.

Kawhi is being defended by other people with the same amount of integrity as Kawhi -

which is to say - zero integrity.

the quitter - give me a warrior anyday.

Spurs will be alright - they can just keep plugging along - and pretty soon these same media gots will be uttering that phrase;

"why won't this team just die already?"

Season is over - the two hated teams are in the finals - no reason to watch that -

can't wait for a new spurs season later this year - it will be another great season full of challenges.

Spurs will end up at the top again soon where they belong because they do things the right way.

[rasuo214]

What article is this on Giannis?

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...ture-milwaukee He walked out after the reporter who wrote that article asked him a question during the postgame.


And it looks like the media is already starting with the anti-Spurs spin. Skip will defend the Spurs but he has looked like a crazed anti-Kawhi lunatic for all of his antics this post-season so his credibility is less than zero.

[Mugen]

Obviously just speculating but I'm of the same mind that timvp is alluding to guys like Manu, Patty, and Rudy not getting enough of the blame for the relationship going south. Definitely higher ups like ownership were involved as well as leadership of the medical staff.

The players specifically the Big 3 playing a big role also fits into the narrative that this has been going on for a few years now...they were probably telling Kawhi about Spurs culture and how everything must be done in a certain way....and Kawhi/Dennis said that....(I don't really blame him for that tbh)

I think Pop and RC were probably the last bridge from the organization to Kawhi and his group and they couldn't even salvage it...Pop's only culpability is empowering guys like Manu and TP the power to affect the long-term future of the franchise....

I think it went something along the lines of the following timeline:
-Kawhi pissed that he had to wait for a max extension (getting rid of his agent, etc., Dennis using this to plant the seed)
-Bunch of little injuries along the way (partly due to Kawhi being injury prone, Dennis using this to plant the seed about the medical staff)
-Medical staff clearing him saying he just has to play through the pain (Dennis and Kawhi saying F that, these guys don't have our best interest in the long-term)
-The players starting to question him and asking WTF is going on....
-The FO saying we need to see him healthy and committed before offering a supermax (the final straw tbh)....

What we're seeing now is pretty much the medical staff being right that he just has to play through the pain as well as Kawhi/Dennis being vindicated that talent surpasses everything in the league and that Kawhi really needed the rest to be comfortable from a mental perspective.....

Unfortunately, if the Raptors ring, the narrative will always be that the Spurs were dishonest and royally ed up the entire situation. If the Dubs win then I think most of it goes away and we're back at square 1 and Kawhi leaving for LA...

Welp, it is what it is....nothing you could do at this point tbh.
-

[RC_Drunkford]

Obviously just speculating but I'm of the same mind that timvp is alluding to guys like Manu, Patty, and Rudy not getting enough of the blame for the relationship going south.

Not Patty, Kawhi hugged him after the Spurs curbstomped the Raptors in the AT&T Center. They still good

[acoelho1]

A few thoughts. First, I don't get all this cloak & dagger secrecy on what really occurred during this saga and I don't really believe ESPN is simply holding the story in order to avoid being blackballed. The Spurs (given their small market status) need ESPN more than they need them so it doesn't really make much sense. Additionally, this is not the same situation like when Jordan blackballed SI since Leonard hardly ever does media and has nowhere near the clout in the league. The Spurs also generally keep things tight to the vest and without controversy so it's not like Wright will lose any consequential stories in the future. Plus whatever happen to being a journalist and putting out probably the most controversial story to come out of the Spurs organization ever!

Secondly, the current injury looks to be the same quad issue he had last year so what's the difference in terms of gutting it out for the Raptors but not playing for the Spurs. The media story was always a misdiagnosis and Kawhi's doctors know best but it's been more than a year since Leonard's doctors have done anything with him but here we are, back with what appears to be the same injury. It's even more su ious that the Raptors and Leonard won't comment on the injury itself. Also, outside of this Yahoo article, I haven't heard a peep from ESPN or TNT on the apparent contradiction. Nobody has said that this is a new injury or even supposed that it was the same injury as last year.

One thing that seems evident is that the relationship had started to fracture prior to 2017 season and the Wright podcast gave some insights on the issues. I get that Uncle Dennis played a significant role but Kawhi is grown man so it's safe to assume he knew these actions were creating a rift. However, if the uncle was manipulating the situation to manufacture this issue, the Spurs should have played it smarter. It's hard to assess this situation because of the missing pieces because some are concerned about be blackballed but again, it's hard to see a risk given the Spurs are never ones to be controversial so you are not going to miss any substantive stories . Perhaps there will be a 30 for 30 10 years from now.

[FkLA]

I still don't buy their sob story. The comments from the Spurs that were made didn't lead to him wanting out, they were a result of the writing on the wall that he was trying to push his way out. All this talk about relationships and trust when the biggest driving force was the desire to build his brand. Nephew had been rocking his Klaw gear for years, before he was even a bonafide superstar. If it was a trust/relationship thing why did the Uncle demand LA and only LA?

[Spurs fever]

I'd definitely advise people to go back and listen to the back 2 back podcast again

https://backtobackpod.libsyn.com/ner...chael-c-wright


Michael C. Wright gives a lot of insider info here:

- Uncle Dennis' demands were RIDICULOUS and UNREALISTIC and the stories that occured with him in the mix are CRAZY and UNBELIEVABLE. So nothing common, just real LaVar Ball , if not worse (like hiding from Spurs staff, walking to the ASG through Mardi Gras, etc.)

- He says the relationship went south when Kawhi went to China and the Spurs lost connection to him. They weren't able to reach him anymore. This makes me think that that's probably the point where Uncle Dennis realized how big of a star Kawhi is and came up with the plan to get him to a bigger market

- He says the original thigh contusion stems from March 2016 against the Heat. Kawhi missed 3 games and came back playing looking healthy. I doubt that that was a misdiagnosis that had an effect on his quad 2 years later

- Says Spurs couldn't even find out if their rehab process worked cause they handed over the rehab process to Kawhi's team

- Spurs went out of their way handing over the rehab process to his team and should NOT have done it in hindsight. They gave his team an inch and they took off and went a mile. It's also absolutely not common for an organization to do something like that

- Spurs shielded Kawhi from media and Pop saying "him and his group" was due to Pop really not knowing ANYTHING about how Kawhi's rehab went. Those narratives are just being used as excuses to get out by Kawhi's camp

- Kawhi's team kept announcing dates publicly and to the Spurs on when he will be back. The last one was the home game against NOLA which was also the day of the TEAM PICTURE. So certainly a hoax and just some bull to piss the Spurs off even further which then caused the team meeting

- Spurs still wanted to fix the relationship but couldn't get to Kawhi

- Even when he said he wants to be traded they still wanted to keep him

- They asked for the world in trade talks


So all in all I can't really see anything they could've done different. Maybe not handing over the rehab process to Kawhi's team could've prevented all of this, but that's a long shot. They did everything they could do to keep him

I listened to the podcast when it first came out. Everything you said is true, but then why did Michael C Wright just say a few days ago both sides have blame?

[daslicer]

I listened to the podcast when it first came out. Everything you said is true, but then why did Michael C Wright just say a few days ago both sides have blame?

Wright has now just stated that it was nobody's fault just a big misunderstanding.

[Twisted_Dawg]

Did the Spurs get a second opinion from another prominent medical group who confirmed the Spur doctor's diagnosis? I seem to have recalled reading it, but then again maybe not. And then the NBA league doctors in NY also examined him and confirmed the Spur doctor's diagnosis. It's then that Kawhi sought out his own medical evaluation. That one big national writer said Kawhi went doctor shopping and saw several doctors.

So when and how did the injury happen? He rehabbed the ankle in SA after the 2017 playoffs, went to China in late summer and apparently had no problems. But he shows up at training camp with an injured quad and demands that his doctors take charge of the rehab. Then goes completely flakey from that point on.

So what happened between China and training camp that caused the injury or the quad to flare?

[Russ]

Secondly, the current injury looks to be the same quad issue he had last year so what's the difference in terms of gutting it out for the Raptors but not playing for the Spurs.

Kawhi is playing now for one reason -- he's going to be a FA and wants teams to think he's healthy and worth a big contract.

That was not the case last season with the Spurs.

[weebo]

Idiot.

This is not about Pop - at least Pop had the balls to show he cared by going out to Cali and meet the piece of coward who had zero integrity to even meet pop halfway -

after Pop had basically shaped Kawhi from a no shooting defensive semi specialist -into a complete player by having his staff correct his jump shot.

Pop also turned over the keys to the offense to Kawhi - even though Pop had older more established all stars and hall of famers - and how does your hero repay him?

By turning his back on an entire franchise because an old washed up player pointed out he was faking his injury and truthfully telling the world his injury was 100 times worse.

A real man would have shown up to camp - go into the locker room - and tell Parker to stfu - and gtfo of HIS team now.

I guarantee - at least Parker and the rest of the team would have respected the quitters toughness and balls.

Instead the pussy ran away and tried to get to L.A. - via toronto -

GTFO of here with that weak .

At least the Spurs are proven 5 time champs with respected hall of famers. There is zero reason to jump off the team for a piece of quitter and a traitor -

but you were never really a Spurs fan anyway - so gtfo - and go suck some more quitter nutsack.

he's a laker fan just masquerading as a spur fan bro