Leonard declined to join forces with LeBron! Lakers insiders respond: We've always been glad he wasn't here.

On September 11th Beijing time, Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star previously reported that when Kawhi Leonard became a free agent in the summer of 2019, he did not want to play alongside LeBron James. After Arthur’s report quickly spread, a Lakers insider revealed to the Lakers Daily that the team often feels fortunate Leonard never became part of the "Purple and Gold" squad.

In 2019, Leonard met with the Lakers. Ultimately, he left the Toronto Raptors and chose to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, who had also acquired Paul George from the Thunder via trade at that time.

“We definitely wanted to sign him in 2019, but now we’re glad he’s not here,” said the Lakers insider. “He caused the Clippers so many problems. Sometimes I even feel sorry for the Clippers.”

In the 2020 playoffs’ second round, Leonard’s Clippers led the Denver Nuggets 3-1. At that time, it seemed likely the Clippers would defeat the Nuggets and face the Lakers, led by LeBron and Davis, in the Western Conference Finals. However, the Clippers ultimately lost their 3-1 lead and were eliminated by the Nuggets.

Meanwhile, LeBron and Davis led the Lakers to victory over the Miami Heat in that year’s NBA Finals, securing the championship.

Leonard’s stint with the Clippers was nothing short of a “disaster.” After the 2020 playoff collapse, he suffered a torn right ACL in the 2021 second-round series against the Jazz. Although the Clippers defeated the Jazz, they lost to the Suns in the Western Conference Finals.

As a two-time Finals MVP, Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season due to his ACL injury. The Clippers, who had never reached the NBA Finals, failed to even make the playoffs that season.

In the 2022-23 season, Leonard played 52 regular-season games for the Clippers. In the first round of the playoffs against the Suns, Leonard scored 38 points in the opener and 31 in the second game, seemingly on the verge of another magical playoff run. Unfortunately, he tore his right knee meniscus and missed the rest of the series, with the Clippers being eliminated by the Suns.

As a future Hall of Famer, Leonard still performed well for the Clippers in the 2023-24 season. He appeared in 68 regular-season games, earned an All-Star selection, and made the NBA All-Second Team. However, his right knee injury flared up again in the first round of the 2024 playoffs against the Mavericks. He only played in games two and three, and the Clippers lost the series in six games.

Last season (2024-25), Leonard played only 37 regular-season games for the Clippers. In the first playoff round, the Clippers were defeated by the Nuggets in a seven-game battle. Now, the star is once again in the headlines for negative reasons — reports say he received $48 million in “name-only salary” from the bankrupt company Aspiration.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had invested $50 million in Aspiration. Seven anonymous former Aspiration employees told Pablo Torre that Leonard’s large payment was actually a way to help the Clippers circumvent the NBA salary cap restrictions.

Perhaps Leonard really did not want to team up with LeBron back then, but looking at it now, the Lakers missing out on signing Leonard was undoubtedly escaping a huge “disaster.”