Jerry West Voicemail Calling Lakers a Sh*tshow to Woo Kawhi Leonard Could Be Damning for Clippers

On Thursday, a man named Johnny Wilkes who claims to be best friends with Kawhi Leonard's uncle Dennis Robertson, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging that the Clippers reneged on a $2.5 million oral deal they made with him to help the team land Kawhi Leonard in free agency. The Clippers confirmed that the NBA was investigating the matter but insisted they did nothing wrong. Today, TMZ has published a leaked voicemail from Clippers executive (and former Lakers legend) Jerry West to Wilkes, calling the Lakers "a shitshow" and saying he can't imagine why Kawhi Leonard would want to go there and get much less attention than LeBron James.

Here are notes from ESPN's story on the matter yesterday:

"The lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes is replete with inaccuracies and the allegations are baseless," the Clippers said in a statement. "The Clippers are fully cooperating with the NBA in its investigation, which is standard when these types of allegations are made. They are providing the NBA with evidence that the allegations are false."

According to the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Wilkes alleges that he informed West in April 2019 that he was close to Leonard and the All-Star's uncle. Wilkes and Robertson were teammates at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleges that Wilkes told West he could provide vital information to help the Clippers land Leonard in free agency if the team agreed to pay him $2.5 million for his services. According to the lawsuit, West agreed to the terms. Wilkes is seeking $2.5 million plus damages.

The lawsuit also claims that Wilkes told the Clippers they'd need to get Paul George first to land Leonard and that he introduced Jerry West to Leonard's uncle Dennis Robertson.



he told TMZ



denied