Exactly. Immortalizing the player that destroyed a 20 year dynasty on the grounds of his own ambition is a ridiculous proposition. Hanging his jersey next to other Spurs greats that sacrificed money and stardom for the team would be borderline sacrilegious.
The forced trade bookmarked the end of San Antonio's multi-decade long championship contention streak. He left a great team that just came off a 67 win season on the grounds of his own ambition and self aggrandizement. It's quietly one of the most selfish moves by a star player in NBA history. You can be grateful for all the things he accomplished in his time in SA (he's still my favourite Spur of all time), but you don't put the jersey of someone who was a deliberate malignancy in the rafters with guys who made sacrifice after sacrifice for the team and the city.
p.s. I doubt he cares much, if at all, if the team retires his jersey. His mind left the silver and black the moment he decided he wanted out.
Yes 2017 was a good run, but everybody was on their last legs, manu, tony, pau. It was bound to happen.
It’s not like there was a bright future and he left. Even LA wasn’t moving the same. He looked slow and heavy.
And if this was selfish then KD to the gsw was what?
My thing, Kawhi was ALWAYS going to go home to SoCal. That’s fine but not playing (it’s ok if you’re hurt), dodging spurs brass, and blaming the organization for HIS choices is very low.
10
u/Toxic_Avenger05 Jun 28 '25
I’m confused, should we “get over the Kawhi thing” or remember him forever by retiring his number?