I have to be honest, other than this serving as a reinforcement of the notion that this NBA offseason stands to be more entertaining than the actual basketball that preceded it, I'm not too sure what to make of this news. That, of course, isn't because I've been blind to the writing that the Spurs' two-way super-cyborg has burnt into the wall with his lifeless stare as he remained at odds with a medical staff that cleared him to play months ago, but rather because I've never known what to make of all this. Maybe the match was just better in theory than it was in execution, because Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard have always seemed like the perfectly joyless pair. The idea that the more reserved of the two parties actually "spoke up" and asked out of what's been the most consistently solid culture in sports throughout the last two decades due to a lack of trust fails to register with me. Granted, it was probably more of a "blink twice and power down if you want to be traded" type situation, but it's still weird that a relationship between the organization that's set the bar for sustained success and the mild-mannered spawn of man and machine became fractured beyond repair. Especially since the latter is literally built in the updated mold of Tim Duncan by being a humble, hard-working player on both ends of the court whose skill set was tailor made to dominate during the era in which he was discharged. We all should have listened to Will Smith, because apparently even the most reliable of robot is capable of going rogue. I sort of feel as though this is the sports equivalent of that breakup between the "perfect couple" in your social circle that leaves you wondering if true love actual exists. The main difference being that instead of giving off an aura of genuine happiness, the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard always seemed to share the same deadpan desire to win that was too insatiable for anything more than a sporadic smile. I guess it's true that there's really no such thing as unhappily ever after, and those that do the best job making you believe there is are doomed to eventually let you down. The seemingly inevitable movement of another star player will increase the dramatics of what's sure to be an eventful NBA offseason exponentially. Still, as much as I'm excited for the spin-off of this soap opera, I'll miss the staunch s(p)urliness of the original series. Opposites must attract, because on the outside looking in there didn't seem to be a better fit for Kawhi Leonard from a personality perspective than San Antonio.
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