It appears the long strained relationship between the San Antonio Spurs and Kawhi Leonard may have finally reached the point of no return.
That is because the 2-time DPOY and 2014 NBA Finals MVP has allegedly requested a trade from the Spurs.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania, Kawhi Leonard “wants out” of San Antonio.
At the root of the rift is the apparent handling of the quadriceps tendinopathy that limited Leonard to only appearing in nine games this season. Team doctors medically cleared him to return, but Leonard opted to sit out and rehabbed his injury away from the team. This is led to a players-only meeting imploring him to return to action. Spurs guard Danny Green denied reports brewing at the time that the aforementioned meeting was tense and emotional.
Couldn’t be anymore incorrect lol https://t.co/xo4yVyOvn2
— Danny Green (@DGreen_14) March 22, 2018
It appeared that an end to the schism between the Spurs and their star could be on the horizon as Leornard and head coach Gregg Popovich were set to meet as early as this week to try to hash things out. All that potential goodwill that was seemingly being rebuilt has now been dashed to bits and it appears the Lakers may be the beneficiary, as according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he’s expressed that his desired destination.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard has Los Angeles — preferably the Lakers — at the center of his preferences for a trade destination, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2018
