Sometimes the answer a question is more confusing than the original inquiry, especially in sports.
It now definitely looks like Kawhi Leonard will become a Toronto Raptor.
He is again talking about looking forward to rejoining the team he led to a championship in 2019 after the NBA released details of the punishments they were handing down in connection with an investigation into payments which went around the salary-cap rules.
The NBA ruling strips the Clippers of five future first-round picks, fined the team 30-million dollars (US), suspended three people including owner Steve Ballmer and fined Leonard 700-thousand dollars.
I greatly question fining the team that supposedly made the improper payments that much more than the person receiving them, but that’s the smallest part of this.
At one point, they were talking about voiding Leonard’s contract. That’s not happening.
In fact, he is facing no other significant penalty (apparently) and (to be clear) 700-thousand dollars is NOTHING to him.
Meanwhile, the Clippers (who were already struggling to be relevant in a packed Western Conference) are now completely pushed to the sidelines with no roster and no first-round picks.
It’s a baffling end to an investigation that took all summer, but if and when We the North capture another championship with Kawhi, we will gladly put that question mark beside a second banner in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
