By Editorial | Sport
The absence of Kawhi Leonard from the next All-Star Game continues to cause a lot of talk. Despite an impressive individual season, the Clippers star was not retained by NBA coaches. According to Brian Windhorst, this decision could go beyond the simple sporting framework. The ESPN journalist believes that the recent controversy surrounding a contract deemed suspicious would have weighed on the votes.
Since the announcement of the replacements on Sunday evening, one question keeps coming up: how can a player posting 27.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game be ruled out? Leonard, however, is having one of the best seasons of his career. He even carried the Clippers after a catastrophic start to the year, allowing the team to get back into the race for the playoffs. On a purely basketball level, his presence at the All-Star game seemed almost obvious.
But Brian Windhorst offers a different explanation. For him, the affair revealed in September 2025 around a controversial contract with the company Aspiration would have left traces in the minds of voters. “I would just say that the reaction around the league has been pretty universal among the executives I’ve spoken with: Kawhi Leonard is not on the team. It happens, players are snubbed. But his numbers are phenomenal, and the game is at the Intuit Dome.”explained the journalist.
A controversy that sticks to the image of Kawhi
He then directly mentioned the possible link between this absence and the contractual scandal: “And the question is: Was he not selected because the coaches did not vote for him because of the accusations related to this inappropriate contract? » A question which fuels an already very lively debate around this selection.
The famous file in question was revealed by Pablo Torre. He claimed that Leonard had signed a $28 million contract with Aspiration, a company linked to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, without any real professional consideration. Many saw it as an attempt to circumvent the salary cap, which would have seriously irritated part of the league.
Even if no official sanction has been pronounced to date, the shadow of this affair still looms large. Windhorst believes that this bad publicity may have influenced certain coaches at the time of the vote. “There is no evidence that this is the only reason, but it clearly adds fuel to the fire around his controversial reputation”he analyzes.
Still, the damage seems done. Between his repeated absences in recent years and this extra-sporting controversy, Kawhi has a complex image within the NBA. And even if many believe that he fully deserved a place in the All-Star Game, he appears today as one of the big forgotten ones of an already much discussed selection.
