Draymond Green Backs Kawhi Leonard Over Clippers Scandal
Green says he believes Leonard didn't know about the sham deals, while Markieff Morris calls that account impossible to believe given the money involved.
"Bullshit! Too much money for him not to know! The world doesn't just consist of basketball, he doesn't just live off basketball, lol," Morris wrote on social media.
Leonard himself was fined $700,000 — the amount of money the league determined had passed to him directly — and escaped a suspension. The club took the heavier hit: a $30m fine and stripped draft picks, with owner Steve Ballmer suspended for a year, as reported here on 2026-09-04.
Draymond Green took the opposite view. "Kawhi said he didn't know anything about all this. And I believe him. Daktronics is a real company. If you get a contract with them, you don't run to your agent with questions. It's a firm with a reputation. So I accept Kawhi's version. I'm glad the team got the fines and not him. I'm glad he wasn't suspended. What's the salary cap even for? Why can't you make money off sponsors? And people say this is a players' league. A guy can earn an extra $20-30 million and everyone says he has a problem. It's great that he wasn't punished," Green said.
The two reactions frame the dispute the league has left unresolved: Leonard's money was refunded, the franchise was punished on his behalf, and whether he knew where the money was coming from remains a matter of opinion rather than fact.
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