His wrist barely slapped by the NBA, Kawhi Leonard scores a payday with Raptors

A lot of people were reamed in the NBA’s 36-page report on the Kawhi Leonard-L.A. Clippers boondoggle. Clippers executives “systematically violated NBA rules.” Owner Steve Ballmer was among those “most responsible for the Clippers’ rule-breaking.”

But the guy who actually received millions in off-the-books backhanders? It’s like he had nothing to do with it.

The worst the report accuses him of is “successfully pressuring” the Clippers to funnel little brown envelopes his way. Even then, Leonard is at one remove. The report makes clear that Leonard’s former agent, the notorious Uncle Dennis, did the actual pressuring.

Nonetheless, everyone knows Leonard did wrong. If not legally, then ethically.

On Wednesday, Leonard received his punishment – a two-year, US$115-million extension with the Toronto Raptors.

Leonard once asked MLSE for a chunk of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but who needs the bother of running a business? For his many sins, Leonard’s now owed more than the Leafs’ entire salary cap.

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Some day soon, Leonard will be officially reintroduced to the city of Toronto. It’s going to be like watching Keyser Soze lose the limp while skipping nimbly toward the getaway car at the end of The Usual Suspects. The driving force of the scheme that rocked the NBA isn’t just getting away with it. He’s getting promoted.

Sports is an entertainment business, and who would argue that this isn’t entertaining? It’s by far the most interesting thing that’s happened to the Raptors since the time Leonard brutally dumped them.

This go-around will also end in tears, and every single person involved knows it. That’s what happens when you date scoundrels. But the Raptors can’t help themselves. The chemistry is too good to let common sense intrude.

In his way, Leonard is the most remarkable athlete ever to play in Toronto. He upends all the stereotypes about how a star should comport himself. I mean that as a compliment.

Most stars pretend to care. Though they never stray further than a dozen blocks from the arena, they’ll act like they feel at home in whatever city has promised to make them rich. They’ll even fake humility. Not particularly well. But they’ll try.

Leonard doesn’t play that game. You’re not doing him a favour. It’s the other way around. He couldn’t even bring himself to fake gratefulness in L.A., the sentimental homeplace of all grasping hucksters. Once the money tap was turned off, he left without looking back.

Regardless of where he’s doing it, has there ever been a superstar who approaches his work as more of a job? I don’t mean a good job. I mean a bad one.

Punch in, head down, grind through your three-hour shift, take every single one of your sick days, slip a few boxes of staples into your bag, punch out, head home and try to forget that you have to go back tomorrow. That’s Leonard’s approach.

How frustrating must it be to play with a guy like this? You’ve killed yourself to get to the top. Unless you are one of a very few marquee performers, you’re one awkward fall away from running a carwash. And here’s this guy over here, oozing resentfulness, permanently on the make, half-assing his way onto the all-NBA team.

If anyone raises their voice at him, he’ll be gone. That’s obvious. So everyone backs up in front of him. Some of the hardest men in basketball have been backing up in front of Leonard for more than a decade. How does he do it? He’s a stump. He cannot be shifted.

If you dare him to quit, he’ll quit. He’s quit before. Along with other people’s ambition, his apathy makes him untouchable.

I wouldn’t want the guy as a colleague, but I couldn’t custom design a player who is more fascinating to watch. Because along with the “I don’t give a damn about anyone or anything” attitude, there is also Leonard’s kill switch. In his case, the switch doesn’t kill him. It kills you.

When he wants to, Leonard can become the most irresistible force in the game. There were moments during the Raptors championship run where you could see it happen. One minute, he’s normally good, and the next minute he’s Bill Russell crossed with Pete Maravich. You can’t get by him, and you can’t stop him, either.

Leonard has never bothered to explain how he does this or – more importantly – when and why he does this. It just comes over him sometimes, like Mr. Hyde.

That’s what the Raptors hope they are getting, though they can’t ask. That version of Leonard never appeared in L.A. and, as we now know, they were paying a lot more for the privilege of his presence.

A big sports contract is often referred to as an investment, though it is no such thing. It’s a pure gamble, every time. You give them money and hope they repay you with charisma and effort. If the bet really pays off, you get some silverware.

At the least, a pantomime is performed. You get on one knee and open the ring box, and they pretend they had no idea you were planning to do this. Whether the eventual marriage is successful, who knows.

In this case, everyone knows. With Leonard, you’re not forming a partnership. You’re paying for his company.

Nobody in the Raptors organization can be foolish enough to think that Leonard believes he owes them something. All they have purchased is his grudging presence.

Now they have to hope that, for reasons that are obscure and entirely his own, Leonard feels like winning this year or the next. If he does, this will be a monumental coup. If he doesn’t, it will be a beautiful disaster.