Howard Beck

Let's call it theory that was going around a couple weeks ago that maybe he wanted out because of those reasons.

And that suspensions could be coming from all the way at the highest levels down all the way to Kawhi Leonard himself.

And it also got me thinking, Zach, as we started talking about this.

When we talk about MVP, All-NBA, it's not just the fact that a suspension, even a five-game suspension, could knock him out on the 65-game rule.

It's also kind of the... We talk about that these honors are intended to honor everything you've done statistically, your impact on winning, your impact on your team.

And we do start to bake in things, especially more for MVP than All-NBA.

But leadership, your overall presence, your importance, the way you've carried yourself...

All of it gets baked in.

And there's at least some part of me, for the sake of this discussion, again, folks, don't freak out.

Kawhi may end up being on my ballot for all I know if he doesn't get suspended and if he does make the minimum, the game's minimum.

But is it fair to discuss his role in all of this?

Is it fair to bake that in?

Is it fair to talk about the cloud that's been over the Clippers all season?

And you could say, well, yes, the Clippers are the ones who ultimately committed the crime here, the alleged crime of massive cap circumvention.

But Kawhi Leonard and his group, his advisors, his family are very much part of this.

They don't grant these things if they weren't trying to extract them.

So it's on my mind at least a little bit.

Yeah, there was a games played part of this, too.

I also think there's just a weird thing hanging over the Lakers.

This is just theorizing.