As the Toronto Raptors and LA Clippers trade remains stalled, Kawhi Leonard remains busy.
While Toronto Raptors fans may be getting concerned about how long this Kawhi Leonard trade with the LA Clippers is taking to get completed, the player in question doesn’t seem too worried. Ever since the investigation into Leonard, the Clippers, and Aspiration began, the two-time Finals MVP has maintained that neither he nor the Clippers did anything wrong.
That has remained the stance of everyone involved, but given the uncertainty around what the NBA’s investigation may find, and subsequently what the league may decide on disciplinary-wise, the Raptors chose to not go through with the trade until the investigation was wrapped up.
In the meantime, Leonard has been overseas for his Asia tour. The seven-time NBA All-Star has a huge fan base over there, and his team has been putting out a lot of content. Over the weekend, a clip surfaced of Leonard announcing that he has some new music coming out.
While this may come as a surprise to some, this is actually not new to Leonard. Back in 2021, he was the executive producer of a tape called Culture Jam that included seven tracks, featuring artists like NBA YoungBoy, Rod Wave, Gunna, Polo G, Lil Uzi Vert, Wale, and others.
Known for his quiet and reserved persona, Leonard has become a lot more public facing in the latter stages of his career. He is now on all of the major social media platforms, and while he has admitted not running the accounts himself, they do give his fans more of an opportunity to see what he has going on away from the court.
Seeing this side of Leonard is something fans have enjoyed, and it pushes back against the long running joke that the basketball world will never hear from him again once he retires. In fact, it seems like he could be one of the players who continues to build his personal brand post-retirement. For now, the 35 year old forward is set to enter his 16th season in the NBA (one missed due to an ACL tear). If the trade does go through, it will be his second season with the Toronto Raptors, as he of course led them to their first NBA title in 2019, taking home Finals MVP honors after a historic playoff run.
NBA training camps are now just over one month away, with all parties hoping a resolution to the Leonard situation comes before then.
