Los Angeles (AFP)
The suspense is finally over: NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard, who has just won a title with the Toronto Raptors, will join the Los Angeles Clippers next season, the US media reported Saturday.
The 28-year-old winger from Los Angeles has signed a four-year, $ 142 million contract worth 126 million euros, according to ESPN television journalist Adrian Wojnarowski. , whose information has the value of formalization.
Since the beginning of the "free agency" (the transfer of the NBA) on July 1, everyone in basketball awaited the decision of Kawhi Leonard, after the signing of Kevin Durant Brooklyn Nets.
While rumors sent him a time at the Lakers, alongside LeBron James, the defending NBA champion preferred to join the other club in Los Angeles, the aura yet less prestigious.
He is joined by another star from Los Angeles, Paul George, who leaves the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Together, the two players will pass the Clippers, one of the NBA franchises to the poorest list, long taunted, for a strong candidate for the title.
Trained by Doc Rivers, already champion with the Boston Celtics in 2008, the Clippers have played this year unexpected play-offs early in the season, relying on their youth and their collective.
This signature echoed until Washington, where President Donald Trump, yet not known for his love of basketball, sent a tweet congratulations to Doc Rivers: "Super coach, great guy!"
Donald Trump has also cracked a message for one of the Clippers' leaders, Jerry West, a former legendary player (his figure is represented on the NBA logo).
"Jerry will receive the Liberty Medal", the highest American civilian honor recently awarded to Tiger Woods, wrote the Republican billionaire.
? 2019 AFP