The NBA has often been described as one of the greatest forms of reality television within the theatre that is sport.
High-stakes moments, one-of-a-kind characters and an abundance of unfiltered drama. The “Never Boring Association” has it all.
But it wasn’t until I thought about another, more traditional, form of reality T.V. that I realized how many threads truly intersected. It began with trying to better understand Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Toronto Raptors, and what to make of the enigmatic star ahead of the upcoming season. Naturally, my brain gravitated toward what I believe to be the greatest reality show of all time: Survivor.
Although some might disagree.
If you’ve watched/enjoyed the show, you probably understand where I’m coming from. But if you don’t, I ask you to bear with me as I try to get my point across. I’m sure some of you are already wondering what any of this has to do with Leonard?
For starters, the TLDR for those who don’t know the show: Survivor is a social-strategy game where a group of strangers is marooned on a remote island with minimal supplies. First divided into tribes, eventually merge into one big group, all competing in challenges while periodically voting out players, and later voting for a winner who earns the title of “sole survivor” and $1 million.
Since its humble beginnings in 2000 and having aired over 50 seasons since, Survivor is now widely regarded as one of the most successful reality television series of all time — kind of like the NBA has been since its own inception.
As for the connection to Leonard, well, it goes back to the “one-of-a-kind characters” part.
In trying to dissect what Leonard’s tenure with the Raptors was and could be this time around, I was reminded of another star: the equally inscrutable Tony Vlachos.
(My introduction to Survivor actually came after listening to former winner Wendell Holland, an avid basketball fan, on the No Dunks podcast when he compared castaways to NBA players. So I’m not the first to draw these kinds of parallels!)
RISE
Vlachos, originally a police officer from New Jersey, was just the second player to win the game twice, while his $3 million in winnings is the most money won by any contestant.
Vlachos has been described by fans and players alike as “dominant” and “strategic,” with longtime host of the show Jeff Probst saying he’s “never seen anyone play with that much energy and juggle that many balls at once, and pull it all off.” But he’s been far from infallible during his time on the islands of Fiji. The words “confusing” and “stubborn” have also been used plenty to describe the cop turned reality star.
Again, sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Vlachos’ first appearance on Survivor was about as picture-perfect as, well, Leonard’s one-year run with the Raptors. A then 41-year-old made alliances hard and fast, and he wasn’t afraid to turn on them or tell bald-faced lies — like falsely swearing on his family — if it meant getting one step closer to his end goal. Okay, maybe Leonard’s uncle and ex-manager Dennis Robertson can relate more to that point than he can, but we’ll likely never know the full details of the now-settled Aspiration scandal, and the parallels still hold either way. Mostly that both were okay leaving a trail of scorned accomplices and admirers in their dust as they ultimately got what they were after. Leonard had few issues ruffling as many feathers as Vlachos would from his spy nest if it meant gaining any sort of leverage on or off the court.
And the similarities didn’t stop there.
Because in spite of Vlachos’ strong gameplay throughout Survivor 28: Cagayan, it took one miracle move to make it all come together. The game producers flipped the script that season and opted for a final two instead of the final-three format which had been used in recent years. That meant when Woo Hwang won the last immunity challenge of the season, he had unilateral power to decide who the jurors could vote for in the finale.
(Again, for non-fans of the show, bear with me here.)
It was glaringly obvious that Vlachos would win if he got to the end given his cunning approach. Yet he was still able to convince Hwang that choosing him would serve some contrived sense of honour and loyalty after the two had spent portions of the game as allies on the opposite side of fellow final-three contestant Kass McQuillen. Vlachos’ Hail Mary pitch remarkably convinced Hwang to take him to the end and the outcome was a landslide (8-to-1) win that never should’ve materialized.
It was the closest thing to Leonard’s four-bounce buzzer-beater to win Game 7 in the East semis that anyone may have witnessed on their television screens from a non-sports event. It was brazen to even attempt such a move, and in pulling it off, it erased whatever ill will had been accumulated to that point. For detractors of Vlachos’ dishonesty and Leonard’s unorthodox methods, there was nothing left to say. They won.
And in doing so, each penned their own single-chapter fairy tales.
FALL
But it turned out neither was ready to stop writing, as both Leonard and Vlachos decided that as their stories continued, it was going to be on their terms. And unfortunately for them, soaring to new heights ultimately meant flying too close to the sun.
Most of us know how Leonard’s story went. He headed West and back home to join the Los Angeles Clippers, reverse-engineering his idealized roster alongside Paul George while stripping the team’s war chest down to its studs. After leading the Raptors to the mountaintop, Leonard operated as though he had it all figured out and could map out everything from his new vantage point. Instead, he spent the next seven seasons failing to return to that peak while marred by the same injury-plagued reputation that originally landed him in Toronto.
Now Vlachos’ fall from grace wasn’t as drawn out, but it was equally as spectacular. The star returned to the show three years after his near-flawless victory for an appearance on Survivor 34: Game Changers. And very quickly, Vlachos threw caution to the wind — immediately isolating himself from his tribe-mates by running off to search for hidden advantages across the island rather than establishing the social bonds that carried him through season 28.
He then — to his demise — unwisely targeted the other big threat and former winner on his tribe, Sandra Diaz-Twine, after building little-to-no social capital and wound up on the wrong side of the votes for trying to rock the boat far too early. The Wonder Boy instead looked more like a one-hit wonder as he exited as the second player voted off that season.
Two incredibly talented players within their respective domains, seemingly clouded by their own (over)confidence.
REBIRTH
Now we get to the part about why I’ve gone — and taken you all with me — on this winding path.
While Leonard is only just about to embark on the third act of his journey as a star, Vlachos has already completed his renaissance.
In 2019, he returned to the islands for Survivor 40: Winners at War — featuring an all-winners cast of 20 previous champions. And even before his feet had hit the sand, Vlachos had evolved his approach. He admitted as much, telling Entertainment Weekly that “losing actually helped me.”
How? Well, he understood where he had gone wrong in the past and opted to blend his previous experiences. Vlachos was steadfast in that although he won his first time, the all-out deceptive nature of his game didn’t fully sit right with him. But he also recognized his personal full-throttle brand of play wasn’t going to get the job done either.
So he made even stronger bonds than he had in the past — like with Sarah Lacina, who Vlachos had played a part in voting in season 28 despite their pact to remain allies. This time around, he didn’t cut bait at the first opportunity he could and instead maneuvered with those he had social capital with. But Vlachos still played his game along the way, spy shack and all. He still searched the jungles for personal advantages, but when finding one came at a cost, he rallied his alliance members to avoid extortion. And as for his ultimate sin in season 34? Instead of big-fish hunting right away, Vlachos showed restraint, even going as far as flipping his philosophy to keep the bigger threats around, referring to them as “meat shields.”
It was with all those micro-adjustments that he once again found himself in a finale, eventually taking home another $2 million and earning his spot on the Survivor Mt. Rushmore thanks to an even more impressive win. And before the jury voted for him (12-to-4), Vlachos made it clear that his style of play on season 40 was about correcting past mistakes, and in threading the needle between strategic and social, he accomplished that mission.
Now this is where I’m sure some of you are once again asking: what does any of this have to do with Leonard?
Well, as I watched the recently re-acquired Raptor take part in media day with a full smile, quiet confidence and affable demeanour, it was hard not to believe we were looking at a different version of the superstar. One who, like Vlachos, had been knocked down a couple of pegs and was ready to climb back up. Not on his own, but with those around him, and with a franchise that understands him better than maybe any other could. Leonard made it immediately clear to head coach Darko Rajakovic and the fans that it was no longer his way or the highway.
“I’m not here to take over anything … I just want to win. I want to help Scottie (Barnes). If it’s Scottie’s team, it’s his team,” the seven-time all-star explained.
And if actions speak louder than words, Leonard has put his money where his mouth is, both in the figurative and literal sense — waiving a near-$8 million trade kicker to facilitate his move to Toronto and then a two-year, $115 million extension that was lower than the max value he could’ve earned.
It was as if Leonard finally understood the perception about him, just as Vlachos did after fizzling out in season 34, and is ready to adjust accordingly.
This is no longer the reclusive Leonard who kept the Raptors and fans waiting on a knife’s edge all season before eventually leaving in free agency. Instead, it appears to be a version of Leonard who is ready to open up, stick around and seemingly plant roots in a place he believes could be the home he once left Toronto in search of.
Now does any of that mean his story will come full circle like Vlachos’ ultimately did? It’s certainly trending that way, but that’s the beauty of reality T.V. we never really know until the action unfolds right before our eyes. Not to worry, however, Leonard’s next season is about to air very soon.
