New revelations are surfacing about Kawhi Leonard's departure from the Toronto Raptors, thanks to new reporting from Canadian journalist Bruce Arthur.
Earlier this week, Arthur published a story with the Toronto Star that highlighted Leonard's free agency in 2019, and his uncle Dennis Robertson's attempt to push the Raptors into unprecedented demands as the team fought to re-sign the NBA superstar after their historic championship run.
While it was previously known that Robertson had asked Toronto to trade for Paul George and even floated the idea of Leonard receiving a piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Arthur reports that the wish list went even further.
In his column, Arthur writes that Robertson sought "no-show sponsorships" and "ownership shares in outside companies" on Leonard's behalf, arrangements that would have gone beyond the bounds of a typical NBA contract. Arthur connected those requests to deals Leonard later appeared to secure with companies like Aspiration and with the Los Angeles Clippers, the franchise he ended up signing with.
Arthur's reporting includes a striking account of how Leonard's camp allegedly presented the requests to Raptors officials.
"But it didn't end there. As one source put it, when told about all the corporate sponsors in Toronto who would be happy to have Leonard as a pitchman, his camp said, 'We don't want to do anything,'" reads the report. "Raptors representatives said any sponsor would want to shoot ads or arrange appearances; Roberston reiterated Leonard didn't want to do anything for the money. That's when the Raptors realized Leonard wasn't asking to be introduced to Toronto's lucrative corporate community; they were being asked to arrange no-show jobs, and arrange no-investment investments. [Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment] rejected both proposals."
This new revelation has shed new light on the tense negotiations that ultimately ended with Leonard leaving Toronto after just one season. It also echoes recent allegations around the Clippers themselves, where questions have been raised about whether Leonard benefited from "no-show" sponsorship arrangements tied to his time in Los Angeles.
While no wrongdoing has been confirmed, the claims have fueled league-wide conversations about how far teams and players are willing to go to secure competitive advantages. The Raptors, who had just delivered the city's first-ever NBA title, were reportedly unwilling to cross legal or ethical lines to keep their star.
