Kawhi Leonard returns to Toronto tomorrow night where he will receive his championship ring. Much has been made of Leonard’s decision to leave Toronto in free agency, and for good reason. Never before in NBA history has an NBA Finals MVP changed uniforms during the offseason.
All summer long my interactions with NBA fans have almost always included a couple of specific questions regarding the Klaw. Are you mad that he left? Is he going to get booed when he comes back to Toronto? Let me set the record straight.
What We As Raptors Fans Know
A large portion of the NBA’s fanbase had their first exposure to the Raptors during the playoffs last year. They may only have seen the Raptors play between 2 and 4 times when the Raps played their local team. And don’t even get me started on how badly the NBA media south of the border let you all down by virtually never giving the Raptors a fair analysis. Ever.
Unless you were a serious fan of the NBA, you didn’t know how good a team the Raptors were pre-Kawhi. Masai Ujiri has spent years building a roster with the sole goal of winning an NBA Championship. If you believe that Kawhi was the only reason they won, you’re a casual. Period. Don’t @ me. No NBA star wins a championship without a supporting cast. You don’t get to conveniently forget that because you want to discredit the Raptors.
The Raptors managed the second-best regular-season record in the league last year. This was in spite of the necessity of 22 different starting lineups because of different injuries and personnel issues within the roster. This includes 22 load management games for Kawhi of which the Raptors only lost 5. But you didn’t hear a word about it south of the border. If that had been the Bucks or 76ers or any other team in the NBA, it’s all the media would have been able to talk about.
But you didn’t hear about that. This means we as Raptors fans knew that losing Kawhi didn’t automatically mean a one-way ticket to irrelevancy. It also means you don’t know why Kawhi’s legacy isn’t confined to just the one season he was a Raptor.
Kawhi’s Impact Lives On
Kawhi Leonard left behind something in the personalities and swag of the Raptors he played with that they will carry for the rest of their careers.
One of the reasons the Raptors were able to do so well in spite of the personnel challenges last season was because Kawhi taught those guys how to win. It took me all season to get used to the fact that the Raptors didn’t panic anymore. Even on the best days, the Raptors play-style used to feel like it was a runaway car with the wheels about to come off. It was frantic, barely controlled and impossible to sustain play in and play out.
Kawhi’s presence calmed everyone down. His unflappable chill turned a group of really good ballplayers into Champions. And of course, I’m not diminishing what Kawhi did on the court. How could I? But he’s gone now and the lessons he taught are still obvious. I’ve no doubt it’s a huge factor in the Raptors being such a surprise to so many so far this season.
So, for those of you who said the Raptors weren’t a playoff team without Kawhi here’s what you need to know. Kawhi Leonard’s impact lives on in Toronto. And it will for a very very long time. His unbreakable focus was the final element needed to propel an already phenomenal culture into a Championship one. That legacy is here to stay.
Kawhi Leonard Will ALWAYS be the Man in Toronto
Many NBA fans may be expecting Kawhi to receive a mixed reaction at best tomorrow night. Up here, #WeTheNorth looks at things a little differently. Would we have been thrilled if Kawhi had decided to stay in Toronto? Of course, we would have. Of course, that’s what we wanted. And yeah, his leaving was a disappointment. But looking at the situation, if he didn’t decide to stay considering what he and the team accomplished last season, he was never going to stay. We get that and we’re okay with it.
It wasn’t a big secret that he wanted to play near his hometown of San Diego. It was even less of a secret that the Spurs organization was playing the douche card in sending Kawhi off to what they believed would be exile in Toronto. How’s that working out for you, San Antonio?
But we’re not mad at the man for wanting to go home. I’m sure there are some casuals who might have some dumb crap to say about Kawhi. But collectively as a fanbase, we’ll always love the Fun Guy. Collectively, we know beyond any doubt that without Kawhi #WeTheChamps doesn’t exist. At least not yet.
Might there be a few fans at the Scotiabank Arena tomorrow how are booing? Sure, it’s possible. But I promise you, you won’t be able to hear them over the cheers and applause.
Kawhi Leonard will always be an honourary Raptor. And honourary Torontonian, Ontarian, Canadian. And he’ll always get a hero’s welcome in Toronto.
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