Why NBA didn’t void Kawhi Leonard’s contract or suspend him

The NBA hammered the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard received something closer to a firm tap on the wrist.

Leonard was fined $700,000 but avoided a suspension, and the league did not attempt to void his $50.3 million contract. That prompted questions about whether he escaped too easily after the NBA found multiple salary-cap violations involving outside payments arranged for him.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the answer involves the collective bargaining agreement and the inevitable response from the National Basketball Players Association.

“If you are going to go toward voiding a player’s contract, you have to have a stone-cold case,” Charania said during an appearance on TSN, via NBA Base.

Otherwise, Charania noted, the NBA would face serious arbitration and potentially litigation from the union. Based on the investigative report, the league apparently didn’t believe it possessed enough evidence to win that fight.

Leonard’s uncle and former business representative, Dennis Robertson, was banned from NBA dealings. But Leonard had already fired Robertson in June, creating another layer of distance between the player and the conduct being punished.

The uncertainty caused Toronto to delay its blockbuster trade with the Clippers while it waited to see whether Leonard would be suspended or his contract voided. Neither happened, and the trade finally became official Monday.

So, yes, Leonard’s punishment looked light compared to what happened to the Clippers.

The NBA punished what it believed it could prove. It apparently decided Leonard’s contract was a fight it couldn’t be certain to win.