Kawhi Leonard has come to an agreement to play for the Los Angeles Clippers next season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal is a max one for three years, $103 million. This includes a player option for the third year.
This immediately pushes the other Los Angeles team into title contention, as Leonard combines forces with fellow All-Star Paul George, who will be traded from Oklahoma City.
This elevates the 2-time Finals MVP’s annual salary to over $34 million. The 6-foot-7 forward signed a 5-year deal for $94.3 million in 2015 with the Spurs, which transferred over to the Raptors in a trade last summer.
While the Clippers lost exciting young player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari in the process, they were able to bring George on board by enticing the Thunder with an incredible haul of future picks.
In the end, the team that many discounted down the stretch of Kawhi Watch got their guy. The Clippers had been recruiting Leonard for the better part of the 2018-19 season, including sending officials to many of his games (and even some mild tampering by Doc Rivers on ESPN).
Despite the Hefty Salary, Leonard is Known to Live Modestly
After inking the deal with the Spurs, you would’ve expected Leonard to shell out the cash for various things. However, Financial Juneteenth discussed his humble lifestyle in a March 2016 article.
The Root notes that he “spends his summers in a two-bedroom apartment in San Diego…[and] drives a rehabbed ’97 Chevy Tahoe, nicknamed Gas Guzzler.” Why? He told SI, “It runs, and it’s paid off.”
While other stars are buying mansions, collecting luxury cars, and dropping “Benjamins” at the casino while bathing in Cristal, Leonard enjoys his modest lifestyle and prefers his unlimited supply of wings from his Wingstop sponsor…and he isn’t too proud to use his free coupons even if he is pulling in over $20 million a year.
He lived in the La Jolla Colony apartment complex in late October 2015 according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune. A 2-bedroom apartment at the complex currently costs $2,320 a month per Zillow.
He decided to spend big this past January, as he purchased a San Diego County home for $13.3 million. Per Neal Leitereg of the Union-Tribune:
Set on a lot of more than five acres, the Tuscan-style estate has been extensively renovated and updated for modern living.
Amenities include a workout facility with a dry bar, a home theater, a gourmet kitchen and two offices. A steel-framed wall of glass looks into a temperature-controlled wine vault in the tasting and bar room.
In Los Angeles, he will probably see tons of off-the-court revenue, seeing as he’s in a big media market that will look to commercialize on him and his superstar teammate.
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Kawhi Leonard Contract: How Much Is Clippers Star’s Salary?