NBA-ийн 14 улирлын турш тоглосон Данило Галлинари лигийн мөрдлөгийн дүнд тогтоогдсон Кауай Леонардын хууль бус ивээн тэтгэлгийн мөнгийг бүрэн буцаан төлүүлэх нь зүйтэй гэж үзэж байна.
Лос Анжелес Клипперсийн цалингийн цэс болон санхүүгийн дүрэм зөрчсөн асуудалтай холбогдуулан Кауай Леонардыг 700,000 ам.доллароор торгох шийдвэрийг NBA-ээс гаргасан билээ. Гэвч тус багт хоёр улирал тоглоод Пол Жоржийг авах наймааны хүрээнд баг солиход хүрсэн Данило Галлинари үүнийг хангалтгүй гэж үзэж байна. Тэрээр өөрийн “A Cresta Alta” подкастаар дамжуулан Леонардыг ивээн тэтгэлгийн гэрээнүүдээр олсон бүх мөнгөө буцаан төлж, сайн үйлсийн аянд хандивлах ёстой хэмээн байр сууриа илэрхийлжээ.
NBA-ийн тайланд дурдсанаар, Леонард өөрийн төлөөлөгч бөгөөд авга ах Деннис Робертсоноор дамжуулан багтаа өөрийн хувийн орлогын боломжуудыг бүрдүүлэхийг шахалт үзүүлж, хувийн зардлаа нөхөн төлөөгүй болох нь тогтоогдсон байна. Леонард Aspiration компанитай дөрвөн жилийн 28 сая ам.долларын гэрээ байгуулж, 20 сая ам.долларын хувьцаа эзэмшсэнээс гадна Boingo, Daktronics, Lockton зэрэг компаниудтай хамтран ажилласан аж.
Галлинари өөрийн NBA-ийн замнал нэгэн тоглогчийн шийдвэрээс болж эрс өөрчлөгдсөнийг онцлоод, өөрийн карьерын замыг өөрчилж, хүндрэлтэй нөхцөл байдалд оруулсны хариуд Леонард энэ мөнгөө бүрэн төлөх ёстой гэв. Хэдийгээр тэрээр Оклахома Сити Тандерт өнгөрүүлсэн улирлаа амжилттай байсан гэж үздэг ч энэхүү үйл явдлууд нь ердийн бус дарааллаар өрнөсөн гэдгийг дурджээ.
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A prominent former NBA player is speaking out against Kawhi Leonard’s punishment as part of the league’s investigation into cap circumvention by the LA Clippers.
Danilo Gallinari, a 14-year NBA veteran who played with the Clippers for the two seasons before Leonard’s arrival and was traded as part of the blockbuster deal for Paul George that sealed Leonard’s free-agent decision, said he believes Leonard should have to pay back the money he made in these no-show sponsorship deals, not simply the $700,000 fine issued by the NBA.
“In my opinion, considering he altered the trajectory of my career and landed me in a mess by shipping me out of Los Angeles, he deserves to pay the full amount. He needs to pay every single cent of that money he took,” Gallinari said in Italian on the latest episode of his “A Cresta Alta” podcast. “He ought to give it to charity — since he has to pay it anyway, let it go to a good cause. But first and foremost, he absolutely has to pay it.”
The NBA found that Leonard, through his representative and uncle Dennis Robertson, pressured the Clippers to obtain “off-court income opportunities” and failed to reimburse the Clippers for personal expenses.The NBA’s report on the Clippers does not specify how much money Leonard made in those sponsorship deals. Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million sponsorship deal with Aspiration and was granted $20 million worth of equity in the now-bankrupt company. Leonard also signed deals with Boingo, Daktronics and Lockton, according to the NBA’s report.
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While Gallinari admitted his season with the Oklahoma City Thunder was “fantastic” for him, he said that Leonard should still give back the endorsement money he earned as restitution for upending his and other players’ careers.
“I was the one who ultimately paid the price,” he said. “I was the one who suffered the consequences.”
“The truth is, we ended up taking some great paths — my year in Oklahoma was fantastic — but my NBA journey wasn’t shaped by a GM or an owner, like it was (when I was traded by) the Knicks (in 2011); it was shaped by a player. A player who decided the team wasn’t working and wanted something else. And that set off a chain of events that, as you can see, were far from normal.”
The Clippers acquired Gallinari, then 28, from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade in the summer of 2017 and subsequently handed him a three-year, $65 million extension. A season later, Gallinari averaged a career-high 19.8 points per game, helping lead a Clippers team that was in transition to a surprising 48-34 record and the West’s No. 8 seed.
But LA had structured its roster with the intent to pursue Leonard, a Los Angeles native, as a free agent that summer. The team even dealt Tobias Harris, its leading scorer at the time, at the February 2019 trade deadline to acquire future assets and young players it could use to help build around Leonard and/or another big free-agent signing if they came to the Clippers. Gallinari upped his game after Harris’ departure, averaging 22.4 points after the All-Star break and nearly 20 in the Clippers’ six-game first-round playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors.
During the ensuing summer, the Clippers realized they needed to acquire a running mate for Leonard to ensure he would choose them over the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors. They agreed to trade Gallinari, promising rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Thunder to acquire George. Leonard agreed to sign with the Clippers shortly thereafter.
Gallinari subsequently played one season with the Thunder, helping to lead them to the 2020 playoffs, before signing with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent. He played two seasons with Atlanta, signed with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2022, then missed the 2022-23 campaign after tearing his ACL. He played for the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023-24 season before retiring from the NBA.
A former lottery pick of the New York Knicks, Gallinari averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 14 seasons with the Knicks, Nuggets, Clippers, Thunder, Hawks, Celtics, Wizards, Pistons and Bucks. He also starred for the Italian national team before retiring in 2025.
He hosts the “A Cresta Alta” podcast along with his brother, Federico Gallinari, a former player development coach for the Detroit Pistons and G League’s Motor City Cruise.
— Melanie Anzidei contributed to this story.
