As tension built before the heated deliberations, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers—known as much for his off-the-court silence as for his on-the-court excellence—approached Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum and pulled him aside. “Hey, that wine you gave me was good,” McCollum recalls Leonard telling him. “A lot of people don’t know I drink wine, and I don’t know a lot about it, but I know that shit was good.” This wasn’t some random bottle they were discussing. Leonard, like other select VIPs inside the bubble, had received the first vintage of McCollum Heritage 91, the Pinot Noir he was about to release in partnership with Oregon’s Adelsheim Vineyard.
