Kawhi Leonard's Reported Wild Requests to Lakers, Clippers in Free Agency

Kawhi Leonard reportedly had high demands for the Los Angeles Lakers before signing with the LA Clippers

Feb 4, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) controls the ball against Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

After winning the NBA Finals with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, Kawhi Leonard hit unrestricted free agency. Leonard's market turned into a three-team bidding war between the Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, and LA Clippers.

Of course, everyone knows that Leonard ultimately signed with the Clippers, as they were willing to trade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the OKC Thunder to acquire Paul George at Leonard's request.

Feb 10, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and forward Paul George (13) look on in the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

However, wanting to team up with George in LA was not Leonard's only request.

Leonard's shady free agency

There have been plenty of rumblings about Leonard and his uncle, Dennis Robertson, having unusual requests from the teams that were bidding on him in free agency in 2019. ESPN's Baxter Holmes recently reported what Leonard and Robertson were asking from the Clippers, and how they made those same requests to the Raptors and Lakers.

"Acquiring George was one of several requests made by Leonard and his camp, led by Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, who outlined a series of asks for the Clippers in the days leading up to July 5," Holmes wrote. "Those requests included part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court endorsement money, one source with direct knowledge of the talks said.

"They were the same requests that, according to The Athletic, Robertson made of the Lakers and the Raptors... These verbal requests fell outside the boundaries of the league's collective bargaining agreement, and while the Clippers didn't say yes to them, they did say yes to others, according to a source with knowledge of the talks."

Kawhi Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, reportedly wanted the Lakers to give him part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house, and guaranteed off-court endorsement money, per @Baxter

“Acquiring George was one of several requests made by Leonard and his camp,… pic.twitter.com/mSbNqhMLJK

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 17, 2025

According to this report, Robertson was asking the Lakers, Clippers, and Raptors to give Leonard a stake of the team, a private plane, a house, and off-court endorsement money. Of course, these are illegal demands, and the Lakers and Raptors rightfully voiced their frustrations with Robertson to the NBA following this free agency cycle.

To minimal surprise, the Clippers were the team to agree to some of his wild requests, which have, of course, been doing more harm than good for the franchise.

While this report from ESPN is not new information, it is always interesting to go back to that 2019 free agency. In 2019, The Athletic's Sam Amick reported about Leonard's demands to the Lakers, Clippers, and Raptors, so this information has been circulating for six years, but of course, with the NBA investigating his deal with Aspiration, this has resurfaced.

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