long time lurker, first-time poster (not an alt, promise lol- this show of an offseason prompted me to create an account). that said, a number of questions still bother me:
1. What exactly were these "things" that the Spurs had Kawhi do without explanation?? I've followed the team pretty religiously since the Admiral days and this is the first time I've heard of anything remotely like this.
2. Carter says that Kawhi didn't like that the Spurs went after players that were "yes-men" in FA. Okay...so players that bought into the Spurs system?? AKA really good role players that he should want around him as a franchise player??
3. Chris Carter's body language/demeanor...his feet are shaking the entire time he's talking, very poor eye contact, he looks exasperated when he's trying to counter the claim that the Spurs are a great organization. Why? Just comes across as discomfort/that he's hiding something...also, I feel like he's had these same weird tics/nervous habits in ANY interview that he's talked about Kawhi (not just the one above).
Don't know if this is the right thread to post this diatribe, but man this is just a weird evolution of events that frankly makes little sense. There are just so many inconsistencies/gaps in logic...
* reports that Kawhi always hated the way the Spurs conducted business/didn't like their organizational structures and plans...yet he said he wanted to retire a Spur as recently as his March interview
* reports that he was getting homesick and thus wanted LA...yet he's supposedly a low maintenance guy that still drives his old beater car. (also side note, don't most players spend offseasons in their hometowns anyway?? given the demands of the NBA schedule will it really make that big of a difference to be LA based vs. SA?? I live in Austin and flights to Cali are < 3 hours (and you gain time flying west))
* reports that he despises the limelight and attention (he was in Vegas last week, and left bc he hated his surroundings) ... yet he's demanding a trade to most lime-lit place in the NBA (more so now w/ LeBron...regardless of which LA team he wants to go to next year). There's a difference between growing up in San Diego and loving the surroundings vs playing for an LA team; also a very real possibility that the pressure of playing in LA destroys the charm that the city holds for you on a personal level.
of c there's the whole obscure injury (degenerative tendinopathy is a ridiculously rare condition to diagnose in isolation (without any other underlying autoimmune diseases)), and leaving what appears to be $80million on the table.
not to mention the fact that he royally screwed over the franchise that allowed him to build from a fringe lottery pick to bonafide two-way star. if the discontent was this prevalent much earlier than this summer and the money was, in fact, a non-issue, at least have the decency to make a trade demand behind closed doors and not handicap the organization that raised you for the foreseeable future.
I hope we get a full timeline of how this transpired/exactly where the fractures in this relationship happened, simply for the sake of closure. At the very least, come out and talk to the fans that supported you, loved you and held you in the same regard as #21 and #50 for a majority of your career.
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reaction when he heard that...
