Seth Curry marries Doc Rivers’ daughter, Kawhi Leonard’s ultimatum

A fairytale wedding has drawn the ire of a coach who had to dip into his own pocket despite the NBA player earning a rich new contract.

It seems if Doc Rivers could have one do-over for daughter Callie’s wedding, it would be groom Seth Curry footing the bill instead of him.

“It was very expensive,” the Clippers coach told the Los Angeles Times of last weekend’s Malibu nuptials. “I have to be the first coach to ever throw a wedding for an NBA player. Like, I don’t get that. I don’t think I should have paid. I really don’t. But it was fantastic.”

Curry, who agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks over the summer, asked Rivers’ permission before popping the question to Callie.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Rivers previously told The Undefeated. “He’s such a gentleman. As a father, that is all you want. He just called me and asked like normal people. I always tell people, ‘We’re all normal people at the end of the day.’ I told him, ‘Great, and absolutely.’ But I think he knew I’d say that. …”

Curry proposed to Callie on Valentine’s Day earlier this year. The couple has one daughter, Carter.

The newlyweds recently shared a few photos from their big day on Instagram, with Callie captioning one shot: “Forever.”

— Jaclyn Hendricks, NY Post

KAWHI’S LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS ULTIMATUM

The publicly quiet Kawhi Leonard was very blunt with his new team before signing with the Clippers to conclude the NBA’s most thrilling offseason drama.

“He said, ‘I want to play for you,’ and he pointed at me,” head coach Doc Rivers said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “He said, (owner) ‘Mr. Ballmer, I love the things you do and what you stand for.

“But your team is not good enough and if you don’t change your team, I’m not coming.’”

Kawhi’s move to the Clippers altered the NBA landscape.

And so the Clippers, coming off a first-round playoff exit as the eighth seed, presented Leonard a list of players they thought he would fit well with, Rivers said.

Leonard chose fellow southern California native Paul George, and soon after, the Clippers sent an unprecedented package — unprotected first-round picks in 2022, 2024, 2026 and previously acquired Heat first-round picks in 2021 and 2023, along with highly touted former first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari — to Oklahoma City for George.

Rivers — who was fined for tampering after fawning over Leonard during the postseason — said Ballmer was “nervous” about giving up so many picks, but Rivers spun it as the Clippers trading for George and Leonard.

The Thunder originally rejected the deal, and Rivers joked they’d have to move the Clippers to Seattle if the rival Lakers swooped in to sign Leonard.

Ballmer hesitated. Doc went all in 💰 pic.twitter.com/fA2kV0OdWn

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 19, 2019

It was widely assumed Leonard would either re-sign with the Raptors, whom he led to their first NBA championship last season, or a team that was already brimming with superstars — like the Lakers, who have LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“We had a meeting with Kawhi at my house in Malibu and we felt we had the inside position,” Rivers said. “The Lakers had a meeting with Kawhi and they built this whole thing up for him to come to their new practice facility and he said, ‘No, you can come to my hotel room.’ But with us he said, ‘Yes, I’ll come to your house.’ When we heard that it felt like he was telling us he wants to come here.”

As long as they made Leonard’s wish came true. They did, and Leonard signed a three-year contract worth $103 million, which includes an opt-out clause in 2021.

— Mark Fischer, NY Post