Out of Anger, Kawhi Leonard mistake has cost him his career

The Spurs and San Antonio can finally put the Leonard era and its repercussions behind them. Anticipation has replaced disappointment and frustration.
My mind instantly conjures up pictures of Celtics green-and-white jerseys and Yankees pinstripes when I think of great sports dynasties.

Over 27 seasons, from 1936 to 1962, the New York Yankees won 16 World Series.
The benchmark for domination in professional sports in North America is those two incredible runs.

IMPACT PLAYER: Wembanyama is going to gradually transform the Spurs.

However, neither the Yankees nor the Celtics were able to duplicate the San Antonio Spurs’ incredible run of success from 1997 to 2017.

For 20 consecutive seasons throughout that time, the Spurs won at least 60% of their games. They had at least 50 wins in 19 of those 20 seasons, and they qualified for the playoffs each year. (The 1998–1999 season, which was cut short due to a lockout, saw the Spurs win their first NBA championship and earn the best record in the league with fewer than 50 games won.)

No other significant sports team has ever won 20 years in a row with 60 percent of its games won. The only teams that came close were the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady New England Patriots and Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.

The peculiar thing about this unique era is that, looking back, San Antonians often feel like they were let down.

This is due to the fact that, in the fall of 2017, there was every reason to think that this fortunate 20-year run would last much longer.

Kawhi Leonard, the best two-way player in the league, led the Spurs to the Western Conference finals and finished third in the MVP vote in 2017. However, he suffered an ankle injury in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors that required him to miss the remainder of the postseason.

With Leonard in the forefront, Spurs supporters expected at least ten more years of unbroken success heading into the 2017–18 campaign.

Then strange things started to happen. During the first two months of the 2017–18 season, Leonard was absent. Then, after just nine games, he was declared ineligible for the remainder of the season because of persistent pain stemming from a right quadriceps injury—one of the four muscles in the front of the thigh.

The Spurs medical staff allowed Leonard to return, but his own physicians disagreed, and a dispute erupted.

Leonard asked for a trade as a result of his negative emotions.

Nearly five years have passed since the Spurs grudgingly traded veteran swingman Danny Green and forward Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in July of that year. In return, the Spurs received DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 lottery pick that they would eventually use to select Keldon Johnson.

Spurs Nation’s resentment of Leonard has progressively lessened over those five years as we’ve witnessed him help Toronto win a championship and battle ailments during his four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Nonetheless, Leonard’s untimely tenure and contentious exit from the Spurs cast a shadow over both the franchise and the San Antonio supporters of the Spurs.

At least not until NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum revealed a week ago that the Spurs would have the opportunity to select the most eagerly anticipated talent in a generation, 7-foot-4 French phenom Victor Wembanyama, if they won the draft lottery.

The team floundered for the first four years of the post-Leonard era, neither excellent enough to be relevant nor terrible enough to acquire a player who would define the organization.

Tearing up the roster and starting over again was the logical, if short-term painful, approach. The Spurs have let go of three outstanding young players—Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and Lonnie Walker—as well as a dependable center in Philipp Vogelthal over the last fifteen months. It should come as no surprise that they had their worst season in 26 years.

It has been almost five years since the Spurs reluctantly dealt forward Leonard and veteran swingman Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors in July of that same year. DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 lottery pick—which they would ultimately use to select Keldon Johnson—were exchanged for the Spurs.

Over those five years, as we’ve watched Leonard help Toronto win a championship and battle injuries during his four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Spurs Nation’s dislike of him has gradually eased.

However, Leonard’s premature departure and difficult tenure with the Spurs have left a stain on the team and the Spurs faithful in San Antonio.