Kawhi Leonard emphatically endorses Clippers’ future at Media Day

As the first couple days of the offseason came and went, it became pretty clear that Kawhi Leonard was going to stay an LA Clipper.

Other teams were already beginning to go ahead and spend their money, and Kawhi had just one place to go.

While we weren’t surprised that he stayed in his hometown, we really weren’t sure about what he’d do in terms of the type of contract he’d sign. Kawhi decided to just go with a four-year deal. He revealed the reasons why in NBA Media Day today.

Kawhi Leonard signed the four-year deal with the LA Clippers for selfless reasons.

If Kawhi Leonard were only about himself, he would have gone all out for the money in his new deal with the LA Clippers.

Like he said, he would have just gone with a two-year deal with a player option for the second year. He then would have sat out this year so he didn’t risk his next contract, and signed that mega five-year max contract.

The fact that he admitted that he knew the four-year deal would be best for the team shows how great and important of a leader Leonard is. As he said, it’s not just that he now has the chance to play this year, but also that he didn’t want to deal with the press finding reasons as to how he was going to leave for the Warriors, Knicks, or whoever else would jump into the discussion.

It would be destructive to the team and the vibes around the team. Kawhi selflessly understands that and cares about that. He knew he wanted to be a Clipper long-term anyway, and made sure he put the franchise before him, and in the best possible situation, even though he knew he’d be returning either way.

There isn’t anyone in the league I’d rather have leading our LA Clippers through this season and beyond. We should all be beyond ecstatic about the messages Leonard fed us during Media Day today.