A former Clippers forward isn’t holding back on Kawhi Leonard. After the NBA fined Leonard $700,000 over the team’s salary cap circumvention case, he said that number is nowhere near enough.
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Danilo Gallinari said on the A Cresta Alta podcast…
“He should pay all of that $50 million. He changed the trajectory of my career and put me in a difficult situation by sending me away from Los Angeles.”
Gallinari was traded away from the Clippers in 2019 as part of the deal that brought Paul George to Los Angeles and cleared the way for Leonard to sign there. He’s framing that move as something that came from Leonard himself, not the front office.
Gallinari’s Take on the 2019 Trade
“What happened to my NBA career wasn’t decided by a general manager or an owner, but by a player who decided that team wasn’t good enough and wanted something else.”
“He should give that money to charity. He should pay all $50 million, not just $700,000.”
The $50 million figure Gallinari mentioned isn’t from the NBA’s fine.It’s roughly what Leonard is set to earn this season. Leonard’s actual penalty from the league was $700,000. The Clippers separately were fined $30 million and lost five future first-round picks.
Gallinari played 14 seasons across six teams after leaving the Clippers, and the 2019 trade is still one of the moments people bring up when they talk about his career, given the timing it happened right as the Clippers put together George and Leonard. He retired from the NBA following a stint with the San Antonio Spurs, and has talked before about how that trade changed things for him.
Leonard hasn’t said much beyond his initial statement when the fine came down, saying he accepted responsibility for “lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle” and regretted the distraction it caused.He has not addressed Gallinari’s comments directly.
Whether or not the league revisits the scope of Leonard’s penalty remains to be seen, but Gallinari’s comments add another voice to a story that’s already reshaped how one of the league’s most decorated recent title runs came together.