How the Spurs drove Leonard to leave by overplaying their hand

Playing for the San Antonio Spurs is similar to playing with LeBron James in that both parties are infallible.

That means if anything goes wrong, as with the case of Kawhi Leonard's trade request, the blame falls squarely on the other side. It can't possibly be the fault of the best organization in basketball, and it must be that Leonard has gone mad.

The prevailing narrative is that Leonard and his greedy uncle-turned-manager Dennis Robertson are silly for wanting to leave. Leonard's otherwise unblemished name was dragged through the mud over the last six months as he recovered from a quad injury, even though there's plenty of fault to go around on both sides.

San Antonio is hardly blameless. The Spurs alienated their franchise player, overplayed the "Spurs mystique" that faded after Tim Duncan retired, took shots at Leonard through the media, and now they're about to face a harsh reality going forward.

Their failure was driven by two key mistakes.

Alienating their franchise player

Reports suggest Leonard's camp feels betrayed by the Spurs, although you don't need reporters to tell you there are problems since he's leaving $219 million on the table.

How did the rift get so bad? It all traces back to Leonard's right quadriceps injury, which the Spurs medical team initially called a contusion. He played through the injury in last year's playoffs, but the true severity wasn't known until the offseason. Leonard's recovery was slow, and he didn't fully trust himself to play. When he finally did make his return in December, the 26-year-old was in and out of the lineup and eventually had to sit after nine games.

He still wasn't completely healed and sought a second opinion, which is what anyone else would do in that situation. His doctors concluded Leonard had a tendon issue causing a degenerative effect on the muscle, which meant a different recovery schedule than what the Spurs called for since their doctors thought it was a bruise. That disagreement contributed to tension in the relationship, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

The Spurs decided to draw a line in the sand with Leonard and started pressuring him through the media. Not only did they leak reports he was sitting despite receiving team clearance, but they also went after him publicly by leaking that Leonard was "distant" and "disconnected."

Gregg Popovich was peppered daily with questions about Leonard's playing status, so he directed reporters to ask Leonard's "group." That shifted the blame toward the player, which wasn't a smart move. Popovich repeated the line throughout the year and publicly challenged his star. He reportedly has yet to sit down with Leonard to hash out their issues, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, even though the season ended two months ago.

Tony Parker, one of the franchise's most respected voices, piled on the pressure. Parker boasted that his quad injury was "a hundred times worse." He also reportedly led a "tense and emotional" team meeting in which the players asked Leonard when he would play.

The Spurs being anxious to have Leonard on the court is understandable. They won 61 games and went to the Western Conference finals in 2016-17 largely because of him, and with several veterans like Parker, Pau Gasol, and Manu Ginobili fading fast, the team didn't have time to wait.

The Spurs feeling confident in their medical team is also understandable. They extended the careers of Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and other aging stars by being innovative with rest and treatment. A strong reputation as one of the best training staffs in the league has been well earned.

But the Spurs overplayed their hand by pressuring Leonard about his injury, one they couldn't fix. The two-time All-Star was never going to suit up unless he felt 100-percent healthy, so going after him publicly served no purpose other than to alienate him.

Taking Leonard for granted

The Spurs' mantra over the years has been that they want players who have gotten "over" themselves.

It sounds good on paper, but the implication is they seek players who are going to put the team first. Of course, that was an easier sell when the endlessly selfless Tim Duncan set the example for everyone else. But Duncan has been gone since retiring in 2016, and he left behind a leadership void.

The "team first" mantra is also outdated in an era of player control. Superstars want to dictate their own terms, often by forming superteams, as James and Kevin Durant did to win titles. Leonard is no different, and the Spurs mistook his unassuming nature for being the exception, but he's now being the rule.

There are limitations small-market teams face, and while the Spurs have historically avoided them, they're now starting to feel the squeeze. When Leonard's shoe deal expired, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year and former Finals MVP was only offered $20 million over four years by Jordan Brand. To put that deal into perspective, Lonzo Ball received a $20 million offer over five years from Nike before playing a game, simply because of hype and being with the always popular Los Angeles Lakers.

It's no wonder Leonard now wants to join the Lakers, according to Wojnarowski, a feeling that goes beyond where he was born.

Teams in smaller markets operate like the Oklahoma City Thunder, an organization that bends over backwards for its stars. It doesn't always work - Durant left to chase both a ring and a different lifestyle - but at least the approach helps, however marginally. Russell Westbrook loved being a big fish in a small pond, he won an MVP (over Leonard) by collecting counting stats to his heart's content, and then he opted to sign a super-max extension to stay - the same extension the Spurs hoped Leonard would ink as well. The Thunder haven't won five titles like the Spurs, but they're set up better going forward.

The next few years will be a test of Spurs culture, and just how much it will crumble without the people who laid the foundation. Duncan is gone, Ginobili and Parker could join him in retirement, Popovich is not long off, and now Leonard wants out. Who will carry this great franchise going forward?

That's the most perplexing part of the Spurs' public campaign against Leonard. They didn't have much to fall back upon, as the rest of the roster is old and has limitations. San Antonio keeps failing to unearth any young prospects with star potential, while also struggling to attract stars outside of LaMarcus Aldridge. Then there's Popovich, who already has his next job lined up with Team USA.

Leonard was their only bridge to the future, and now they'll face the consequences after treating him poorly.