The mutually assured destruction of the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard

The San Antonio Spurs are unlike any other NBA franchise, but they are still an NBA franchise. And weird things happen to NBA franchises. When you have ultra-talented, prideful young adults worth tens of millions of dollars in high-stakes careers with lifestyles you can’t comprehend, the environment is susceptible to drama.

So it goes with the Kawhi Leonard saga.

This weekend provided more material for the future dramatic retelling of the chronicle. First, the Spurs were bludgeoned by the Warriors in Game 1 of their playoff series. Leonard was not in attendance. There was no real explanation as to why, other than the fact that Leonard remains in New York rehabbing his quad injury — an injury sustained last offseason, just after the Spurs last played the Warriors in the playoffs.

Leonard’s absence from the arena seemed to spark new lambasting of his decision-making. Fans had already begun questioning why Leonard wasn’t playing given that the Spurs have said they have cleared him to play. (Leonard’s own medical team wants him to continue to rehab, apparently.) Even if Leonard can’t play, couldn’t he sit behind the bench in a suit and cheer his teammates on, maybe even offer his younger, less experienced fellow Spurs some tips? Wouldn’t his mere presence be a tiny little boost in San Antonio’s Odyssean task, if for nothing more than morale? Wouldn’t it show a tiny bit of commitment to the organization beyond this episode? Couldn’t those rehab specialists, whoever they are, travel to Oakland to keep working on and with Leonard during the series?

Alas.

The drama wheel turned again on Sunday when Spurs’ don Gregg Popovich was asked whether there was any chance Leonard would suit up during this series. Popovich, already exhibiting a lack of patience in conversation with the media, wasn’t terribly diplomatic.

Hours later, Yahoo!’s Shams Charania cited league sources who said Leonard is expected to miss the remainder of the series and, thus, postseason. Still no one is declaring it so on the record — not the Spurs, not Leonard. Charania reports Leonard’s rehab is being done “in collaboration and with the approval” of Spurs’ doctors, but it’s clear there’s some disagreement on when that rehab should have turned into maintenance for a player actually participating in NBA games.

I mean, it’s evident right there in the Spurs’ description of why Leonard isn’t playing. In the box score, Leonard’s DNPs are being registered as “return from injury management.” What the quad does that euphemism even mean? Is it management of Leonard’s return from injury? That suggests, like, an administrative or logistic problem. Does it imply that Leonard is slowly making a return from injury management? That implies the Spurs are disputing that Leonard is currently injured: he’s simply in injury management, from which he is in the process of returning. Is Injury Management the name of Leonard’s doctors’ practice, and are the Spurs awaiting Leonard’s return from that office?

Whatever it means, it’s a little passive-aggressive. The Spurs could stick DNP-Quad in there and skip the sniping. This is becoming a theme: San Antonio officials aren’t willing to flat-out say that Leonard should be playing, and that they are frustrated he won’t. But they clearly think that and are frustrated by Leonard. So it leaks out in unflattering ways. You can’t keep complicated emotions like this plugged up without some leeching.

Leonard could also, you know, say something. He could explain himself to his coach, his teammates, and Spurs fans. Perhaps he’s talked candidly with Popovich and the players; there has been no reporting to that effect, though, and Leonard has been radio silent in public, which in fairness is not particularly odd for him.

It’s all such a mess of insular drama, something we never associate with the Spurs because of their run of success, their professional posture, their quiet excellence.

Here’s the thing: we’re inching closer to a point of no return. Leonard decided to remain in New York instead of joining the team in street clothes or a uniform. That pushed the fandom, Popovich, and quite possibly other Spurs further away from Leonard. Now Leonard appears to be done. Some bond of trust is either broken or on the precipice of snapping.

With Leonard one year from unrestricted free agency, and given the divide that has opened up between Leonard and the organization this year, there is a real possibility the Spurs will decide to trade their franchise cornerstone this summer. If they don’t, San Antonio will spend all of next season fearing the worst and questioning Leonard’s commitment on every play. Heavens help us if Leonard were to get dinged up again!

We have collectively and rightfully spent so much energy supposing where LeBron James and Paul George might end up this summer, if they leave their teams. We’ve analyzed those franchises’ struggles and where the lawns might be more lush. But perhaps the Kawhi Leonard saga was the real story to watch all along. This might end up being the most impactful drama of a season rife with them.