The NBA Playoffs, Brought to You by Kawhi Leonard – The Wall Street Journal

For a few days last summer, after professional basketball teams managed to blow through a few billion dollars in a few hours, the NBA abruptly stopped.

The flood of deals in free agency slowed to a trickle as the entire league waited for one reclusive superstar to make up his mind. Kawhi Leonard was coming off a title with the Toronto Raptors, and for the first time in his career, he was a free agent with the right to play anywhere he wanted. The fate of the NBA hung on his decision.