OK, so if you haven't been tracking, Michael C Wright went on the Back to Back podcast... WOW. (Wright covers the Spurs). This does not make Kawhi or his people look good at all.
A user on the Spurs' reddit page did a summary:
r/NBASpurs - Kawhi’s handlers wouldn’t let the Spurs staff see him when he was rehabbing in NY earlier this year
At the All Star game in NO a few years ago Kawhi and his group are at a hotel and the Spurs security tells them what time they need to get them out to get them to the game on time. Uncle Dennis says "no we're not doing this, this is when we're going to leave". They decide to leave when Uncle Dennis says and they end up stuck in traffic a block away from the hotel. The police end up letting them through but it would take them an hour and a half to get to the arena. They ended up having Kawhi get out, put a hood over his head, and walk to the Arena from the hotel.
Uncle Dennis thinks the Spurs are too controlling but he doesn't have any experience representing any other players from any other teams.
Spurs gave Kawhi and his camp complete control of his "rehab" starting August 8th. The rehab was controlled by his own doctors although Wright does not know if he really did shop around for a bunch of doctors or not. Spurs had absolutely no say in his rehab process at all which is why Pop would refer reporters to Kawhi's group when asked questions about his status.
Wright thinks the Spurs were too accommodating to Kawhi and his group which is why all of this has happened. Says Kawhi realized he was a star in the league and wanted to be treated as such. In the words of Wright "Spurs gave him an inch and Kawhi took a mile".
If Spurs offer supermax he thinks he would re-sign (because $$$ talks) but at this point the Spurs probably don't trust the people around Leonard enough to offer up that amount of money (would be 30% of their Cap). (This leads me to believe that the rumors about the Spurs not offering the supermax are true.)
The Spurs have told Wright that they want to get Kawhi in a room ALONE. No Dennis, no one else speaking for him. Just Kawhi.
The Spurs would get a call from Uncle Dennis saying "Kawhi wants this and that" but the Spurs would never know if it was really Kawhi's wishes or his Uncles.
The Spurs don't believe that his Uncle has his best interest at heart but know that his Uncle means a lot to him due to the fact that he was there for him after his father was murdered.
Wright did not write the story about Parkers comments because he knew exactly that it would be taken out of context as soon as he said it. He says the reports about Kawhi being betrayed by Tony's comments are excuses coming from his Uncle.
The reason Kawhis teammates were frustrated and called a team meeting was because Kawhi's group kept throwing out return dates which would come and go. Eventually the team got fed up and confronted him about all the pump faking. Manu's comments a week or so before the team meeting seems to confirm that the team knew they were getting hit with the Okie Doke by Kawhi's group.
Kawhi told them he would be back for the game against NO on March 19th which was picture day. Kawhi showed up for pictures but as soon as they started pre game shoot around he left. That night after the game they had the team meeting and two days later Kawhi left for NY and never came back to the team.
Up to the point before the trade request in June Wright talked to multiple people in the organisation who were confident they could get Pop to sit down with Kawhi and iron everything out. The death of Pop's wife complicated things and it took a while for him to get the meeting with Kawhi. Kawhi didn't want to meet with Pop and did everything he would to avoid the meeting. At that point the trade request news came out.
Kawhi's side feels like Spurs are leaking info that makes him look bad. Wright thinks those are excuses and that he just doesn't want to play in San Antonio. He doesn't see a good ending for either side here.
Wright says people think he's exaggerating about Uncle Dennis but some of the things that he requests/demands are unrealistic. According to him some of the stories are hard to believe and he laughs when he thinks about them. (I should note that Jeff McDonald, another Spurs beat writer has compared Uncle Dennis to Lavar Ball).
Kawhi doesn't want to go to the Lakers. His preferred destination is the Clippers but the Clippers have absolutely no assets that the Spurs want. He expects a dark horse team to come in and nab Kawhi in a trade.
He does not see Kawhi handling the LA media scene very well. Says he was well protected from the media in San Antonio and doesn't think he is ready for an environment like that.
A second summary with additional items:
r/NBASpurs - Kawhi’s handlers wouldn’t let the Spurs staff see him when he was rehabbing in NY earlier this year
9:12: Uncle Dennis has this support group where they teach players branding and how to deal with organizations and etiquette. Which is hilarious considering how they are handling Kawhi's situation right now. With addition to that, Uncle Dennis is the type of person who, "fans the flames (10:51)
13:49: At the end of the day, you take care of the player. Spurs are the epitome of player first and probably the best in the NBA in that regard. Spurs aren't perfect, but they are close.
14:21: Spurs have history/experience of dealing with players wanting second opinions and being part of the process. But, if you don't include Spurs doctors in the rehab process (Like Kawhi's), there's not much the Spurs doctors can do.
15:00: Pop didn't have the answers because the rehab process was out of his and the Spur's hands. "You have to ask his group" makes much more sense. Pop didn't know and that statement wasn't really a shot at Kawhi.
15:56: The origins of Kawhi's injury started March 23rd, 2016. Kawhi's recent injury have different opinions from the Spurs and Kawhi's group. Kawhi's group thought it was the hardening of the muscle which led to the discomfort of the tendon while the Spurs believed that it was quadriceps tendinopathy which is hard to rehab back. Muscle and tendon are two different rehab treatments.
18:43: Kawhi goes to China, Spurs can't contact him. When there's an event like that, the team would send their security and PR people but they couldn't get in touch with Kawhi. Wright believed that was the, "turning point of the relationship."
21:50-22:52: One way to "fix" this relationship? That 219 million dollar check called the Supermax. There's a risk that Kawhi and his group could pull this stunt again. Spurs aren't going to blindly offer the supermax. The Spurs want to be sure and confident that they can offer the max without any doubt. The risk of Kawhi getting injured, sitting out, not play as well (2016-17 form).
25:35-26:30: Pretty obvious, but the Spurs aren't going to listen to Kawhi's trade demands. Spurs hold the cards and Kawhi can be traded anywhere. The Spurs are going to do what's best for the Spurs.
27:02: Spurs asked (according to Larry Coon) Ingram, Hart, Kuzma, 2 1st Round Picks, and 2 Pick Swaps. Basically the Spurs are saying, "Give us the whole universe for Kawhi or piss off."
28:37: Spurs want to meet with Kawhi ALONE. Team USA Training Camp could potentially be a good opportunity to do that. Will that happen? Who knows.
29:15 It's a harsh and cruel reality of having your family represent you. You can't change family, but you can cut ties with them. If Kawhi doesn't believe that he's being represented well, he would have to go up to Uncle Dennis. Can Kawhi even do that? Uncle Dennis is the one who looked after him after Kawhi father's death. It's difficult, messy situation.
34:00: In regards talking about Pop and Tony talking about Kawhi, Tony is technically right. TP had a ruptured quad injury and for his age, that could have been a career ending injury. It's actually amazing how TP rehabbed fairly quickly granted he doesn't have the explosiveness. But it's amazing regardless. TP's statements at Kawhi wasn't a shot, ("Stay Positive...etc"). The media took "100 times worse" quote and ran with it and Kawhi's group saying it was the final straw: bunch of excuses.
37:00: Tony and Manu have the right to be frustrated. They don't have much time left to compete for championships. To see the 2017-18 season become a waste because of the Kawhi drama , it has to bother them. To put into context: if Barcelona's Lionel Messi pulled this exact same thing as Kawhi did and if you are Mascherano or Iniesta who's careers are winding down, you would be frustrated)
48:00: Spurs and Kawhi have to make a compromise: You want out? Okay. But you got to play your ass out. It will help both sides because Kawhi's trade value will go up and potentially contenders will jump in and try to trade for Kawhi. Kawhi leaves the Spurs and the Spurs get potential pieces to retool. But will that compromise happen? Who knows.
52:50: Michael C. Wright wants Kawhi to go to the Lakers because he wants Kawhi to deal with the constant attention/spotlight. The Lakers are not going protect Kawhi as much as the Spurs have. There's not constant media presence in San Antonio and Spurs will shut reporters down in interviewing players even Joel Anthony.
49:20: Lakers are not Kawhi's preferred destination. Kawhi wants to go to the Clippers, a dark horse team could happen. Kawhi just wants to be in LA
1:00;40: Sixers team doctor Jonathan Glasgow did Kawhi's rehab process. So the Sixers technically have Kawhi's medical records.
