From a model student to a controversial person, Leonard’s rugged road!

Recently, Leonard's personal public image has suffered another heavy blow due to the dispute over the Yin-Yang contract. It is indeed somewhat unexpected that the student who was once quiet, silent, taciturn, but has top talent has gradually become a controversial figure hotly discussed by NBA media and fans.

Looking back at Leonard's career, from his emergence during the Spurs, experiencing friction between injuries and the team's medical team, he was then traded to the Raptors leading the team to the championship, to the fact that he joined the Clippers, he caused criticism from the outside world due to his regular round-off management, and now the problem of Yin-Yang contracts has been exposed.

It is surprising. As a good student of the Spurs, how did Leonard step by step to the forefront of today? Is it true that he is an insatiable star as the outside world said? Below

, we might as well review Leonard's controversy path and see if there is a context behind these controversies.

Leonard entered the NBA with the 15th pick in the first round in 2011. It is obvious that he was not regarded as a superstar at the time, but the Spurs were keen on him. The Spurs' style of playing is discipline and teamwork, which is exactly in line with Leonard's personality. They don't talk much or show off, and only focus on details on the court. The 2014 finals became the first key stage of Leonard's career. At that time, the Spurs and the Heat had a second duel. Everyone thought that this would be the continuation of the Heat dynasty, but under Leonard's silent and deadly defense, coupled with stable scores at critical moments, completely disrupted the situation.

When Leonard won the MVP of the Finals, the image of the silent killer was deeply rooted in people's hearts. There were no exaggerated celebrations, no unnecessary words, only skillful mid-range shooting and solid defense.

Under the Spurs system, head coach Popovich's training has portrayed him as a model student in the eyes of the league. He is not only Duncan's best successor, but also the hope of the Spurs dynasty. At that time, all the fans thought that he had the opportunity to start another Spurs prosperous era that belonged to him.

Of course, if there was no such accident...

Leonard's injury treatment in the last few seasons of the Spurs may be the biggest turning point in his career evaluation.

In the 2017-18 season, the long-troubled right thigh injury caused Leonard to be unable to play almost the whole season, but there was a gap in diagnosis between the team's medical team and Leonard's personal physician. The former believed that he could gradually return to the court, while the latter insisted that his injury had a risk of worsening and was not suitable for playing with injuries. This diagnosis difference eventually became a medical problem, which gradually evolved into a trust crisis.

As the game passed one after another, outside fans began to question: Why did Leonard look healthy, but he was still unwilling to play? It was even rumored that his teammates were in the locker room asking about his comeback situation.

Under these rumors and pressure, the relationship between him and the Spurs' senior management has deteriorated sharply. For Leonard, who has always been low-key, public response is not his style, but his usual silence has been interpreted as escape by the outside world.

In the end, the trust relationship between Leonard and the Spurs completely collapsed. From Leonard's perspective, the team's medical team hoped that he would play without healing his injury, which may make him deeply realize that even the Spurs, which are known for their team and humanity, still regard players as assets rather than individuals. This experience also sowed the seeds of general distrust of the NBA parent team. Take it for granted, perhaps Leonard's attitude towards the parent team has also begun to change since then. He no longer regards the team as a reliable backing, but has learned to put his future career and physical condition first.

This medical controversy directly promoted the heavyweight trade that shocked the league in 2018. Leonard was sent to the Toronto Raptors, and then he responded to all doubts with the Finals MVP and a championship; but at the same time, his experience during the Spurs also completely changed his future views on player health and team contracts.

Looking back at the year he played for the Raptors, it was a huge bet for the team and the players, but the result was obviously successful. The dynasty terminator led the Raptors to win the first championship in team history and won the MVP in the finals again. With his outstanding leadership performance, his player value and external comments also recovered, and even came to the peak of his career.

However, behind this highlight, there are many questions left. Leonard, who has restored his free identity, did not choose to stay and continue to fight for the title defense. Instead, during the free market negotiations, the outside world saw his various additional requirements on the team's contract renewal conditions.

For the outside world, this seems a bit difficult to understand. Why a superstar who just led the team to win the championship chose to leave, and even showed a tough attitude that he had never seen before at the renewal negotiating table. However, from Leonard's perspective, this may be a rational choice. After the short but highlighted championship season, he seems to hope that he can control his career more.

In the end, the Raptors were unable to keep the boss. After the free market in 2019, Leonard chose to return to his hometown of Los Angeles to join the Clippers. On the surface, this decision was for both family and hoped to join forces with Paul George in big cities to build the Clippers into a favorite team for the league championship.

But as time goes by, the cruel reality slowly breaks this vision. Leonard repeatedly faces injuries, which greatly affects his season attendance rate. The media and fans have also begun to criticize his rest management, and even believe that this is the main reason why the Clippers failed to make a breakthrough at critical moments many times..

The result is that even though the Clippers have a luxurious lineup and strong combat power, they steadily advance to the playoffs every year, they always fail at critical moments. This period of anticipated and powerful, but constantly restricted by injuries has not only affected the team's dream of winning, but also gradually accumulates the outside world's impatientness and doubts about Leonard.

Until the recent Yin-Yang contract incident once again pushed him to the forefront. Media reports pointed out that Leonard signed a high-endorsement contract with a company called Aspiration, with a total amount of tens of millions of dollars, but the outside world could not find evidence that he actually fulfilled the contract for the company. In short, such behaviors in the name of endorsement may actually involve the transfer of interests and avoid the gray area of ​​alliance salary cap.

There are also follow-up reports that similar requirements are actually not the first time. Leonard's team made similar requests when negotiating with the Raptors and the Lakers, trying to make up for uncontrollable variables on the court through off-court plans. Such behavior not only seriously affected the balanced environment of the league, but also made the outside world begin to question his professional ethics, once again highlighting his high attention to self-interest, and ultimately forming the current controversial situation.

So why did you get to this point?

To understand Leonard's current situation, we cannot simply make conclusions based on just one or two leaked news. However, from looking back on his career, he has indeed gradually become a controversial figure on the league's hot search list from an early quiet model student. If he carefully observes his speeches and choices, they are actually all around one question:

Under the shadow of long-term injuries, how can he ensure that he gets the greatest safety guarantee?

It is obvious that the later injury storm of the Spurs has had a far greater impact on Leonard than the simple physical level. Perhaps it was this experience that made him fully realize that his body might betray him at any time; for a professional player, such perception will change his thinking mode, and healthy players may be able to concentrate on chasing their performance on the court because they believe that performance on the court can earn a qualified salary, but for Leonard, he is more clear that he cannot rely entirely on attendance, because the next injury may be the final turning point in his career.

Because of this, Leonard's mentality gradually changed, and he began to be extremely obsessed with the player's salary numbers. This was not simply greed, but a sense of insecurity that originated from the deepest heart. When the future is full of uncertainty, he can only pursue all the benefits he can get at the moment as much as possible.

According to this idea, Leonard did not become a criticized player in an instant, but went to the present step by step. His choice seems difficult to understand, but there are some rational and realistic considerations behind it. However, these reasons are often difficult to meet the expectations of fans and are contrary to the mainstream of hard work that the league has always advocated.

At present, it is unlikely that the league will draw a hasty conclusion, but for Leonard, in addition to facing fines or damage to the player's reputation, the most direct impact may be that his image in the hearts of public fans will be reshaped, from a low-key model student in the past to a controversial star who is both mysterious and calculating in the hearts of fans today.

Looking at the trajectory along the way, every choice of Leonard is not a willfulness that comes out of thin air. The repeated injury experiences, uncertainty about career health, and persistence in immediate protection ultimately shape him today.

To a certain extent, external controversy also reflects the rational choice he made for his career under the shadow of injury. However, even if his choice is rational, the current situation is what he must face after all.