Adam Keith Smith

[Pensare Basketball @PensareBBall]

Let me clarify my last post.

This agreement between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration is not illegal. Him signing it is not illegal. The nature of the contract itself does not itself state that this contract is for the purposes of circumvention of the NBA's salary cap.

What was (quite obviously) illegal is the nature and process by which the deal was originally generated, and everything surrounding it.

This contract which Kawhi signed agreed to pay him a large sum of money to do a small number of things. It also included strongly defensive language to protect Kawhi Leonard from ever having to deliver on the full list of demands from Aspiration.

Singing a sponsorship agreement with Aspiration is not a smoking gun. Aspiration was at the time of this agreement a still legit company that had an existing mega partnership deal with Kawhi's employer.

A deal isn't automatically illegal because you're being paid above market rates. So signing this deal does NOT in itself validate any theories that Kawhi knew the purpose of the deal was to circumvent the cap.

What it shows is that Kawhi Leonard entered a sponsorship agreement in which he would be paid a large sum of money to do very little work that he could refuse to do if it conflicted with his beliefs.

In business terms, it's just a really really bad deal for Aspiration. And if* Kawhi chose to ignore the subtext of the deal being one-sided or unfair due to his belief that the Arena sponsor had an additional vested interest in keeping him with the Clippers, then in my opinion, this is just a genius case of plausible deniability.

It's not about what you think happened or what you think people should have known. It's about what you can prove. And conversations that happen in private rooms between Kawhi and Dennis are hard to prove.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@robdogeraser @PabloTorre A multimillionaire with numerous endorsement deals and a team managing his finances can absolutely receive money without personally tracking every payment or knowing how every deal was structured.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@LakerCentral365 Even if we concede that Kawhi personally signed the document, it still doesn’t prove he knew how the deal was negotiated or that it was designed to circumvent the cap. Signing a document and having knowledge of the underlying scheme are two entirely different things.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@Tj1036 @PabloTorre You would be surprised how many people do not have any idea what is going in and out of their bank accounts this applies to average folks and multi millionaires.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@Tj1036 @PabloTorre That is not true at all, especially when we’re talking about athletes who are for the most part financially illiterate. They fully rely on a team of specialist.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@MrXVINM @PabloTorre This is not a reach. I’m just showing that there’s enough reasonable doubt. Which is why of everyone involved he got the lightest penalty.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@Tj1036 @PabloTorre You are assuming that Kawhi manages his financial accounts himself, which is highly unlikely. Like most multimillionaires he has a team of advisors who manages everything for him and his cash flow.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@PabloTorre Even if we concede that Kawhi himself signed the document, it is not evidence that he was aware that it was a part of cap circumvention. I’m sure he signs several deals without being fully aware of how they came to be and how they were negotiated by his team.

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@PabloTorre An electronic signature is not evidence that Kawhi Leonard actually signed a document himself. Anyone could utilize DocuSign and sign on someone’s behalf especially if he had a team that he had granted over power of attorney to.

[Ball Don't Stop @balldontstop]

Ridiculous footage of 22-year-old Kobe Bryant cooking the Warriors 🤯 No over dribbling, no foul baiting, no mismatch hunting and the paint is packed so no easy drives to the cup. Razor sharp skill set. Real tough buckets. #TBE

[Sam Ghali, M.D. @EM_RESUS]

Here’s a video I made breaking down this important case of a young man in his early 20’s who presented to the ER with cough for 1 month

#FOAMed

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@StrandbergLevi The Lakers roster that year was terrible. The fact that he willed that team to the playoffs was an incredible feat. Not to mention all the other things he did that year.

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

The Lakers are retiring Pau Gasol's jersey tonight 🙌

[Kobe Bryant Stories & Motivation @kobehighlight]

The Redeem Team was training and out in Vegas before the 2008 Olympics.

They soon realized Kobe Bryant was different.

[Los Angeles Lakers @Lakers]

A Champion, legend, and forever part of the Lakers Family.

3/7/23 - We raise Pau Gasol's jersey into the rafters

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@JeffBezos It’s all posturing and deflecting. Just how the game is played. I wouldn’t take any politician’s statements seriously. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@jamesaguilarjr @Lakers Damn…

[Adam Keith Smith @adamkeithsmith]

@Rayye_Wit Mr. Morale makes it pretty clear in Savior that he doesn’t want to be anyone’s “Messiah”. He’s protecting his and his families peace and I’m all for it.

[Bill Maher @billmaher]

Every age has been The Misinformation Age, but sometimes misinformation is just history's first draft.