The view of a fan

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Déjà vu all over again

The late Yogi Berra Yankee great was reported to have uttered the headline used above. That indeed might be the case as a story unfolds that is curiously similar to one in the distant past. Kawhi Leonard is receiving additional income not reported, this news story broke on Wednesday morning by podcaster and former ESPN Contributor Pablo Torre. As I have often stated I don’t discuss salaries unless there is an element requiring an explanation…that is the case here. I intend to repeat this as reported by Torres, the media member indicates the Clippers are over the salary cap which is not surprising.

The surprise is how they apparently circumvented the cap. Torre claims Kawhi Leonard signed a contract to a “fake job with a fake company.” Torre claims the amount of money to be paid Leonard is reported to be in the neighborhood of $28 million, the Clippers immediately denied the Torre story. I hope you are not expecting a statement from Leonard, he rarely speaks to the media on any subject let alone something as volatile as this claim. There is another question which for now remains unanswered, have other teams in the NBA, NFL or other sports skirted the league salary cap? In closing I will state, there is no issue on my part with income earned by any professional athlete. The problem as I see it are “backdoor deals” or those of a questionable nature to acquire additional income. Just as sure as I’m typing this there will be a legion of fans coming to the defense of Leonard, that’s okay and if you believe this is okay you have the right to express your opinion.

As for the Clippers and the NBA that’s a far different matter, the team could be in for a hefty fine. In year 2000 the Wolves were caught in a similar type of payment arrangement to a team member, once the incident was fully investigated the NBA levied a fine on the team, suspended the owner and GM for a period. In addition the Wolves forfeited five first round draft choices although two were later returned. That was a different commissioner but if this is true I can hardly see the Clippers simply walking away from this potential landmine.

One of my favorites

“If you are always the subject of conversation you must be doing something correctly!” I’m unsure if I originated this statement or not however it fits Arkansas coach John Calipari. This exercise will not provide you anything you probably didn’t know already, he was a player at a point. Calipari was a point guard at UNC Wilmington and Clarion from 1978-1982, from that point he immediately moved into the coaching ranks. He became an assistant under Bill Self at Kansas from 1982-1985 and from 1985 to 1988 he was also an assistant at Pitt. At UMass he took on a new role as the basketball world took notice as his program became nationally known.

Calipari decided to take on the role of an NBA coach and it would be the Nets, however, that didn’t work for him. From 2000-2009 Calipari was the head coach of Memphis and then it was a long period leading the basketball program at Blue Blood Kentucky. In 2024 Calipari moved to Arkansas and the hoped plan is to duplicate Kentucky. In addition Calipari has sent a number of players into the NBA, truth is some prospects landed at Kentucky and now Arkansas due to this connection. Critics claim Calipari is not good at managing play on the court but I counter that argument with he’s got assistant coaches too. Isn’t that a part of their responsibility to aid in game management? I’m not going to make any predictions for the upcoming season but will simply state Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks will be a force. 

The Wemby Warriors

Are prepared for the 2025-26 NBA season, we can never project possible injuries but leaving that aside they should compete. In the June 2025 draft the Spurs with the second pick chose Dylan Harper a 6-ft 6 inch 215 pound shooting guard. ESPN projects Harper in the starters role, whether that comes about is an unknown. The statement is made because his backup is listed as Stephon Castle who was named 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year. The point guard is DeAaron Fox who was acquired in the middle of the season from the Kings. This youthful Spurs backcourt is 19 (Harper), Castle (20) and the “old man” Fox an ancient 27 years old.

At small forward, Devin Vassel and power forward Harrison Barnes and in the post is the real Big Man Victor Wembanyama. For those who loved to harp on how thin Wemby is probably have not seen him recently. A blot clot issue shut him down near the middle of the season however he’s been cleared by the medical staff to play. The 2023 nbadraft.net mock listing indicated Wemby was 210 pounds by draft time. Today’s roster indicates he now weighs 235 pounds which says he shouldn’t be pushed around in the paint. Other than the weight issue the other “complaint” regarding Wemby cynics claim, “He needs to develop an inside game,” my response is baloney. Despite his 7-ft 4 (or 5) frame as most of you are aware Wemby’s got a very capable shooting game that extends to the three point line. Will the Spurs earn a playoff berth, that is possible however they must get lucky in the ever so tough Western Conference of the NBA?

Whatley vs Drexler

I promise this is the last visit of this subject, some might remember I wrote how inept the Kansas City Kings were in drafting talent. I wanted to briefly revisit two of those drafts, 1983 and 1984. I intend to look at 1984 first, at that time Gonzaga was unknown for producing NBA talent. In addition, John Stockton was a smallish point guard who might have been overlooked at the time Kings scouts were analyzing talent, the Kings get a pass here choosing Otis Thorpe over Stockton. As I attempted to point out Thorpe had an extensive career playing for the Kings and several other NBA teams. Thorpe failed to acquire a Hall of Fame career as did Stockton nevertheless it was significant.

On the other hand the 1983 draft was a different matter, Clyde Drexler’s Houston Cougar team was loaded with talent as he and his teammates demonstrated during the season. With pick 13 the Kings chose Ennis Whatley from Alabama, at 14 the Blazers chose Drexler. I checked Whatley’s numbers at Alabama, they were good but certainly not outstanding (13.7 ppg, 6.3 assists), he was a 6-foot 3 inch point guard. The 14th pick was conveyed to the Blazers who chose Clyde Drexler. Drexler was a member of the Phi Slama Jama crew with the Houston Cougars. Was there an unknown factor why the Kings passed on Drexler and instead chose Whatley…history fails to detail that reasoning. All I can say is Whatley despite being a McDonald’s All American had an undistinguished NBA career as for Drexler we know how that turned out.