NBA Commissioner Keeping Open Mind To Alleged Kawhi Leonard Recruitment Issue

The NBA continues to look into the case of the Los Angeles Clippers' recruitment of Kawhi Leonard.

But this early, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is keeping an open mind and says he has no reason to believe that any rule-breaking went down.

Silver spoke on the matter when he appeared on ESPN’s "First Take" on Monday, apparently opting not to comment deeply with the investigation still going on.

"All I can say there is everyone's entitled to the presumption of innocent," he said. "Obviously, someone who is not known to me or the league office has made an allegation against the team."

Johnny Wilkes is a virtual unknown to the NBA world, but the league is performing due diligence for the sake of other NBA teams. Regardless, he is not holding out high hopes of unearthing something that would turn the allegations into a full-blown issue.

It will be recalled that in a previous post, Wilkes filed a suit against Clippers executive board member Jerry West. The man, who claims to be a close friend of Leonard’s uncle Dennis Robertson, bats that he played a major role in swinging the two-time Finals MVP to the Clippers.

West and Leonard denied the allegations. The former said that he does not engage in improper conduct in connection with the player's signing.

However, a voice message came out with the man trashing the Los Angeles Lakers and thanking Wilkes for helping out. The man speaking was allegedly West per a previous post.

"Hey there, this is Jerry calling. I really want to thank you a lot for trying to help. I heard this morning that everyone over in the Lakers camp thinks they're gonna get him," part of the released voice message revealed.

For his part, Leonard denied that Wilkes had any part in his decision to join the Clippers. He pointed out how he grew in Los Angeles and feels it was nothing more than people trying to make some money.

He also added that it will likely be not the last.

"I’m from L.A. and I grew up here my whole life. And out here, people try to find any way to get some money. It probably won’t be the last. I know a lot of people out here," Leonard said.