TORONTO – One team’s pariah, another’s saviour.
In his first public comments since Kawhi Leonard re-joined the Toronto Raptors, a process more winding and more convoluted than the first time he arrived as part of a controversial trade in the summer of 2018, or the extended ‘will he or won’t he’ dance he led the Raptors on in free agency in the weeks after he helped them to their only NBA championship, Leonard didn’t as much keep it real as he kept it selective.
On Monday, as the Raptors raised the curtain on the 2026-27 season, Leonard shoved the elephant out of the room as quickly and efficiently as he has dealt with countless defenders over the course of what will end up being a unique Hall-of-Fame career, and a trait the Raptors hope he can maintain for the next three seasons.
Never the most loquacious, Leonard got off on the front foot as he sat down for his season-opening media conference wearing the same No. 2 jersey he wore when he won over the hearts and minds of Raptors fans in 2018-19. He instantly headed off any effort to ask about his role in a multi-million-dollar salary-cap circumvention scheme run by the Los Angeles Clippers for his benefit that had its roots back in his departure from Toronto in 2019, reached full bloom midway through his seven-year tenure with the Clippers and inadvertently may have paved the way for his return.
“I’m excited to be here. I know some of you came wanting to hear about the investigation, but after talking with the NBA and the (Players’ Association), I think the best decision is to move forward and focus on my time as a Toronto Raptor,” Leonard said. “I was already a distraction for the past 70 days (while the trade with the Clippers was on hold pending the outcome of the negotiation) and wasn’t able to meet my teammates or participate in any minicamp activities with them. Moving forward, I just want to talk about the Toronto Raptors today.”
It was a different tone than he struck a year ago following a series of reports by journalist Pablo Torre that Leonard memorably dismissed as “clickbait” and “conspiracy theories.”
In the end, a 364-day investigation by the NBA confirmed that, indeed, the Clippers had funnelled millions in phony endorsement schemes to Leonard over the course of his tenure with the team.
The league fined the Clippers $30 million, took away five future first-round picks and banned owner Steve Ballmer and his top executive from the NBA for a year.
Leonard was largely able to skate, with the bulk of the blame landing on his uncle and former advisor, Dennis Robertson, who has been banned from NBA activities for five years.
The punishment for Leonard? He was fined $700,000 in a deal that was negotiated with the Players’ Association. And after a long pause, a trade back to Toronto was completed, with Leonard signing a two-year, $115-million contract extension just last week.
So any Clippers faithful hoping to gain some insight into how Leonard felt about his tenure in southern California ending with their team a smoking, hollowed-out wreckage – the total acquisition cost for Leonard and one trip to the Western Conference Finals ended up being 10 first-round picks as well as two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – will have to wait, though chances are they will let Leonard know how they feel when the Raptors play in Los Angeles on Nov. 2.
So how about Raptors fans wondering if any of the off-court dealings affected Leonard’s choice to leave Toronto shortly after the championship parade, very likely costing the Raptors at least one more championship if not more?
Leonard wasn’t really going there either, although he allows that he can look back at the last seven seasons without regret.
“I made my decision to go to L.A. based on my family,” Leonard said of his decision to sign with the Clippers back then. “I’m a big family guy. I had a lot of older people in my family that I was able to spend time with before they passed away. I got to see babies be born, and cousins and nieces grow up. Those times are cherished, and being able to see family and hug them before they pass away doesn’t make me think too much about the basketball aspect of it.”
He later added: “I thought I made the right decision (then). I still do. I can’t take back the family members I’ve lost or the time I’ve spent with family. I know you guys only see me with basketball, but there’s a bigger life outside of it. I can’t take that back just to win more games or look better in a basketball state.”
This is where sports can get weird.
Certainly, Leonard has worn out his welcome with the Clippers, just as an uncomfortable exit from San Antonio was how he ended up on the Raptors’ doorstep in the first place.
But Toronto? The case is more nuanced.
That in his first run as a Raptor, Leonard thoroughly completed the mission – one season, one title, one Finals MVP – always guaranteed there would be a soft spot for him here, even if all the ‘Kawine and Dine’ restaurant promotions fell short when it came to executing a title defence.
But it’s fair to wonder if the promise of off-court endorsement income the Clippers ended up facilitating was the difference in him leaving or if he was heading back to his native Southern California no matter what.
There would likely be a lot more meat on that particular bone if Leonard had navigated his way out of Los Angeles and over to Detroit, for example.
But he didn’t. He made the effort to come back to Toronto – a choice no player of his calibre has ever made before – and, after a long absence, pick up where he left off.
“For sure, legacy was a big part of it,” he said of his decision to essentially force his way back to the Raptors by signalling that this was the only team he would sign an extension with. “The fans, doing something impossible here – the energy of this city really appealed to me. I enjoyed it even before we won. The people walking around were nice. This decision was made over time, especially with the 70-some days it took to get here.
“But the energy and the people are why I wanted to come back. The fans always showed me love, and coming back to play in (Scotiabank Arena) means a lot. I have relationships here. My son was born here, so when we come back to Canada, he asks, ‘What flag that is?’ Now he’s back home and seems even happier.”
Make no mistake, the Raptors are happy, too. Even if paying a 35-year-old with a rickety injury history a total of $168 million over the next three years comes with plenty of downside risk.
Doing nothing carried risk, too.
They had no clear path to adding a player of Leonard’s calibre as a running mate alongside 25-year-old Scottie Barnes as he enters what should be his superstar years.
The Clippers’ self-inflicted misfortune – whatever role Leonard played in it – is the Raptors’ good luck, with the presence of their new/old superstar instantly elevating them as a team that has to be considered a contender, even in an Eastern Conference that is suddenly stacked with teams that think of themselves the same way.
The Raptors had a chance to be good this season, but adding Leonard gives them a chance to be really good. Maybe even great.
In sports, as weird and serpentine as the logic tree can be, that’s often all the explanation needed.