Los Angeles Lakers: Why Kawhi Leonard will never be a Laker

3. Kawhi Leonard may want to be the star and the Los Angeles Clippers can offer that

One of the biggest things that can be understated when discussing which superstar is going to join LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers is the massive shadow that James casts over every other star he plays with. Look at the likes of Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh; all of their worths went down after playing with James.

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Granted, Bosh unfortunately suffered health complications and Wade was on the downswing of his prime but Love was one of the best power forwards in the league before he was asked to play third fiddle to LeBron and Kyrie Irving.

Speaking of Kyrie Irving, he emphasizes this point perfectly. Despite having a legitimate chance to beat the Golden State Warriors on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he decided he was done playing with LeBron and forced the team to trade him to the Boston Celtics.

Being the second guy alongside LeBron can be tiresome. It is not necessarily LeBron’s fault, either, but it is still the nature of the best.

Leonard may realize that if he goes to the Los Angeles Lakers and may not want to be hit with the same backlash as Kevin Durant was when he joined the Golden State Warriors.

Instead, Leonard can turn his desire of Los Angeles into a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. While they do not have the foundation of being a title-contending team yet, Leonard would start that. The team certainly has the cap space and if they commit to a rebuild this season could also have a top draft pick next year.

This all comes down to Leonard’s personal preferences and whether or not he thinks playing with James would be beneficial to his career.

However, the fact of the matter is that he would still play second fiddle and would become the fall guy in the media if this Lakers’ experiment fails. It is completely understandable if Leonard does not want to join that dynamic.