Kawhi Leonard's Uncle Dennis mystery revealed with wildly differing opinions

Whether he likes it or not, Uncle Dennis is finally getting his close-up.

Dennis Robertson, NBA star Kawhi Leonard's uncle, has always been a rumors legend. Now that Pablo Torre has opened up a mountain of circumstantial evidence on his "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast that Uncle Dennis might have worked with the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer to circumvent the league's salary cap to the tune of $50 million, leading to an official investigation by the NBA, those urban myths might actually be reality.

So then who is the man, the myth, the legend Uncle Dennis? It depends on which executive you ask after an exhaustive feature in The Athletic today by Dan Woike, Sam Amick, and Mike Vorkunov.

It's definitely worth a read, but here's the TL;DR.

Uncle Dennis is consistent in that he'll ask for 'crazy things'

A consistent theme is that Uncle Dennis will ask for the moon, and also a cool free sweatshirt, possibly all in the same day.

For the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019, it was unlimited use of the private plane, guaranteed money in "off-court earnings," and team ownership like had been part of Magic Johnson's retirement gratitude after being forced out because the Showtime icon had HIV, which Uncle Dennis was told repeatedly was strictly against league rules and would be clear attempts to circumvent the salary cap.

Kawhi reportedly wanted part ownership in the Lakers, similar to what Magic Johnson received, and also wanted unlimited access to a private plane, per @TheAthletic

“Leonard didn’t just want a max deal. He wanted unlimited access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed… pic.twitter.com/ANSYl2MBqJ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 25, 2025

One executive described it as a "bizarre expectation, not entitlement, but like a willingness to ask for crazy things."

But then another one spun it as a positive, saying, "He’s a sophisticated guy and a smart guy and aggressive... everyone would say ‘Agents do this all the time.’ But the framework is what makes him different. And a lot of people don’t like it.”

No guardrails seems to be the tension point

Uncle Dennis is a former banker having worked at Chase Bank for over 22 years once his very short professional career fizzled out after playing at the College of Idaho. As a savvy business man, his defenders would say, an NBA superstar has the biggest leverage probably in all of professional American sports.

The problem wasn't the asks say his detractors, it was the repeated outrageous asks, never taking "no" for an answer, especially when it was illegal.

Uncle Dennis is a father figure to Kawhi

No matter what antics Dennis Robertson does within NBA circles, he's been a great father figure to Kawhi ever since Leonard's father, Mark, was murdered in 2008. The case remains unsolved, and the two-time NBA champion was only 16 when it happened at the carwash his dad owned in Compton, California.

In this case, maybe dad just went a bit too far. Time will tell.

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