Hoop Screams: Kawhi Beats The Rap. Sophie Beaten Down
The NBA is not the only basketball league seeking to embarrass itself. The WNBA seems intent on disgracing itself with a league running amuck with politics and race on the court. For a league coddled by leftwing LGBTQ BLM elements and ESPN (but we repeat ourselves) it’s getting hard to buy the obsessive race baiting.
It was a dream reunion. The Toronto Raptors re-creating the magic NBA championship of 2019 by re-acquiring their former star Kawhi Leonard. The iconic photo of Leonard’s last-second shot from the corner against Philadelphia in the deciding game of the NBA Eastern final is imprinted on the memory of every Raptors fan.
Leonard, who was about to become a free agent, then went on to lead the Raps to their first and only NBA title, defeating the Golden State Warriors. In a city where the Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and the Blue Jays have no World Series title sine 1993, it seemed too good to be true. The went mad for Kawhi, imploring him to stay longterm with the Raps.
Sadly, Leonard instead chose the Los Angeles Clippers. While the Raptors have had some competitive teams since Leonard blew town— they made the playoffs twice— the deal signalled the end of any logical chance to dethrone the league’s elite. The chances got even dimmer this past offseason as rivals in the East loaded up on talent/ Giannis Antetokounmpo moved to Miami. Lebron James and Jaylen Brown now in Philadelphia.
The situation gets even cloudier on Kawhi thanks to some excellent reporting from Pablo Torre Finds Out that reveals that when Leonard jumped from Toronto to L.A. the Clippers engineered some backroom deals that would enable them to circumvent the Clippers’ salary cap. Specifically Leonard had a hidden "multi-million dollar" sponsorship agreement with scoreboard manufacturing giant Daktronics.
There are further stories of a second secret circumvention. Leonard and his representatives also sought several prohibited incentives from the Lakers during the 2019 offseason free agency. Lakers co-owner Jeannie Buss reportedly told Leonard's adviser that the requests violated the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, then rejected them.
The NBA finally launched an investigation last September into the allegations. Curiously Leonard was allowed to play the season and then, this summer, he was traded to the Raptors/ According to sources, Toronto knows all about the chicanery but were so desperate they went ahead with a trade for Leonard in exchange from Bobby Ingram, Gradey Dick and three first round picks.
Stories alleged that the investigation by a prominent legal firm was going slowly and Kawhi’s second coming as a Raptor might be delayed till even 2027. Why the wait? Toronto just wanted assurance they will not be part of any possible NBA punishment against Leonard or the Clippers.
Now, new reporting from Michael Grange of Sportsnet says that the problems are almost ironed out. "The most likely outcome? A negotiated settlement where the NBA gets to enforce some version of its rules, [Clippers owner Steve] Ballmer can save face and Leonard can play for the Raptors.”
Stay tuned. The only certainty is that Raps fans spurned in 2019 will forgive just about any indiscretion today once the deal is complete.
The NBA is not the only basketball league seeking to embarrass itself. As we wrote last month, https://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.ca/blog/wnba-come-for-the-rumbles-stay-for-the-racism the WNBA seems intent on disgracing itself as a league running amuck with politics and race on the court. For a league coddled by leftwing LGBTQ BLM elements and ESPN (but we repeat ourselves) it’s getting hard to buy the obsessive race baiting.
The latest embarrassment was another ejection for a black player hammering on women’s rights supporter Sophie Cunningham. https://x.com/ZillaDilla/status/2086307918224199908?s=20 DiJonai Carrington then texted from her dressing room that the ejection was “white privilege”. That led Sports Illustrated to label Cunningham’s getting whacked as “karma” Apparently SI thinks that if you don’t believe men should play in women’s sports, then you deserve to be physically assaulted.
Meanwhile Caitlyn Clark, whose impact has turned the WNBA into a semi-profitable league after decades of red ink, was labelled as a whiner for suggesting that referees were targeting her to placate rather politics of the WNBA’s old guard. https://x.com/NevadaLiberty64/status/2086237725288714671?s=20 Then her own coach chose to defend Sophie Cunningham’s attacker instead of Cunningham. There is no coming back from that.
The result was predictable. The insufferable tolerance for trans players being allowed to play in the WNBA has had its bluff called. Former NBA star Ennes Kanter Freedom has announced he will identify as a woman so he can play next season in the the league. The 6-foot-10, 245 pound forward will have company as another former NBA player Royce White is applying to test the WNBA’s tolerance for dicks in the dressing room. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/08/ex-nba-players-say-theyre-declaring-for-wnba-as-league-considers-transgender-player-policy/
Let’s see how that goes down with the sisters who are free with their virtue but bitches when it causes a Nimby imposition on their selves.
Ultimately the NBA can get away with owners and players breaking the rules. The League’s teams are worth $5.4 B on average. But the WNBA is the bastard child of the league and ESPN. It has never made money. Were it not for ESPN they’d be playing to crowds under 5000 in gymnasiums around North America. Just extrapolate the NHL and the women’s pro hockey league. You get the idea.
In its current iteration women's basketballis headed more to reality TV than ESPN.