Williams has been long-time estranged from the Leonards, even before Kawhi was drafted. There's apparently some truth to the rumor that Kawhi's father Mark Leonard was connected to the streets. After his death, Mark's mother--Kawhi's paternal grandmother--laid claim to whatever assets Mark left behind and Kimesha was the sole child among five siblings who sided with her. I guess Kimesha was the daddy's girl. Then Kawhi landed an nba contract and the grandma and Williams also wanted a share of the pie, prompting Kim Robertson to cut them off entirely.
Not to be callous, but Kawhi having a direct family member in the correctional system is only going to deepen his street cred in SoCal. The Clippers' summer moves suggest they are tackling this Battle for LA beef by growing a grassroots fanbase from the youths of South LA, Moreno and Inglewood, kids who will mature in their Clipper rep to no doubt coincide with the opening of Ballmer's new arena in four years' time. These innercity kids are no strangers to losing family members, including ostensible breadwinners, to the correctional system. A lot of native Cali ballers also paid tribute to Nipsey Hussle after his shooting but Kawhi was the only baller to share a Nike-sponsored video with the rapper. More street cred. Of course you will never see Clippers media directly promoting this angle since it goes against Commissioner Silver's desire for a squeaky clean, family friendly image of the league, post-Iverson and post-Oughts. The blogs and social media channels who do not represent hooping innercity kids would only cursorily touch it, if at all. But in the streets, talk, real face-to-face talk unmediated by a keypad the way neighbors still do, will be uncut and unimpeded. SoCal youths will watch Kawhi on their phones and see him on billboards thinking there goes that hometown kid.