It’s this simple: Brian Elfus is saying he never got paid for his work.
Elfus is Kawhi Leonard’s former agent, the one who negotiated Leonard’s last contract (a max $94 million contract that Leonard is currently bound to, he can opt out next summer), but he has filed a lawsuit saying his former agency withheld his commission on that deal. An agent gets paid for the full deal he negotiates, even if the player switches agents (which Leonard did in 2016).
From Adrian Wojnarowski and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.The former player agent for San Antonio Spurs star forward Kawhi Leonard filed a complaint in a Florida federal court on Monday, suing his former agency for allegedly withholding payment on commissions he says he’s owed, including on the $94.3 million contract that he negotiated for Leonard in 2015.
NBA agent Brian Elfus is suing Impact Sports Basketball LLC, its owner Mitchell Frankel, Impact -- A Sports Management Corp., and the company that bought out all of the Impact-branded sports agencies in 2016, J&S Sports Funding LLC, and its affiliated subsidiaries. Elfus is pursuing up to $5 million in damages against Impact Sports Basketball, Impact, J&S and its subsidiaries for allegedly failing to pay him commissions from Leonard and other clients.
More often than not, these kinds of lawsuits get settled before reaching a trial.
This has no impact on the current Leonard situation, he is expected to sit down with Gregg Popovich in the coming days as they try to work out their differences and see if Leonard will remain in San Antonio (the most likely outcome).