"Not picking Kawhi": Clippers' $18,102,000 center jokingly refuses to swap lives with Kawhi Leonard after Aspiration deal saga

The LA Clippers' offseason has been nothing short of colorful. From the acquisition of Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez to the Aspiration saga involving Kawhi Leonard, the inhabitants of Intuit Dome have been a trending topic within the NBA community in more ways than one.

As far as Clippers center Ivica Zubac is concerned, the Leonard situation was far from desirable. In fact, when social media personality Jamal Christopher swung by media day and asked Zubac which Clippers teammate he'd want to swap lives with, the big Croatian quickly ruled out one individual.

"Being Kawhi this past summer was not easy, so I'm not picking Kawhi," Zubac said with a chuckle.

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Zubac, who is set to earn $18,102,000 this season as per Spotrac, also got a big laugh out of Christopher's revelation that he'd jokingly invited Leonard to do a podcast on the Aspiration controversy. Leonard apparently refused the offer.

Though social media buzz has somewhat cooled off on the former Finals MVP, Leonard was the talk of the town in late September when podcaster Pablo Torre dropped a bombshell claim. According to Torre, Leonard had signed a $28 million "no-show" endorsement deal with a startup called Aspiration in 2021.

Torre alleged that the Aspiration deal was devised to allow the Clippers to circumvent the salary cap. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had supposedly made multi-million dollar investments into Aspiration.

The NBA has announced that it would launch an investigation into Torre's claims. There's a possibility, of course, that the findings of this investigation will impact not only Leonard but his teammates and the Clippers organization as well.

Clippers point guard from "Lob CIty" days makes splash in preseason debut

Another major news item involving the Clippers this offseason was the return of Chris Paul, who'd gained fame as part of the flashy "Lob CIty" squad in the 2010s.

This past Thursday, Paul made his preseason debut when the Clippers took on the Guangzhou Loong-Lions. CP3 stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal.

Fans are eager to see what the 40-year-old floor general can bring to the table as the Clippers make another playoff push this season.

Edited by Simoun Victor Redoblado