\u201cThe narrative of not wanting to come to this city is gone,\u201d the team\u2019s president, Masai Ujiri, said at that 2018 press conference, speaking to insecure Raptors fans who had watched American players like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Chris Bosh leave Toronto since the franchise opened its doors in 1995. \u201cWe should move past that. Believe in this city. Believe in yourselves \u2026 We are proud of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even a historic season wasn\u2019t enough to convince Leonard to stay north of the border. After a long and contentious free-agency period managed by his uncle, Dennis Robertson, Leonard spurned the reigning champions in favor of his hometown Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t as much anger in 2019 as there was with Vince Carter or some of the other guys who left,\u201d says Bruce Arthur, who has covered Leonard since 2018 for the Toronto Star. \u201cI think he was given a little bit of special dispensation because he was going home, because he had delivered a title, and because I never felt like there was ever a connection outside of Kawhi the basketball player, with Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n Raptors fans\u2019 anger was instead directed towards the Clippers, who not only showed up to almost every Raptors game during the championship season, but who also, we now know, went under the table to ensure Leonard<\/a> signed lucrative endorsement deals totaling over $50m \u2013 violating the NBA\u2019s salary cap rules.<\/p>\n Robertson was suspended for five years and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was handed the harshest punishment in NBA history, including the loss of five first-round draft picks and a year-long suspension. However, thanks to a side-deal between the NBA and its Players Association executed to avoid arbitration<\/a>, Leonard was given a relatively light $700,000 fine (he has earned $375m in salary<\/a> so far in his career).<\/p>\n \u201cKawhi\u2019s \u2026 gotten away really clean from what is obviously out-of-bounds behavior,\u201d says Arthur, who reported<\/a> that Leonard \u2013 as much as he pleads ignorance<\/a> to all this \u2013 was in the room when Robertson asked the Raptors for an ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs and at least $10m per year in no-show sponsorship deals in 2019. \u201cSo, perfect heist-type stuff from Kawhi.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being one of the greatest players of his generation, the 35-year-old has burned bridges on his way out of every franchise he\u2019s played for. Spurs fans are still upset by the way his injury was handled in 2017-18, while Clippers fans are distraught about being left holding the bag without even a genuine apology from Leonard. <\/a>But Raptors fans have much more complicated feelings towards the seven-time All-Star \u2013 arguably the best player in franchise history.<\/p>\n On the one hand, \u201cThere was a sense of defiance, especially the first year after Kawhi left [when the Raptors lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals] … and there was a great deal of pride that went into that,\u201d says William Lou, the host and creator of the Hello and Welcome podcast. But as time went on, \u201cThe Clippers were humbled in a basketball sense. They never could get that version of Kawhi \u2026 that Toronto got in their one year, and so it\u2019s hard to be too mad.\u201d<\/p>\n Kawhi Leonard celebrates the Raptors\u2019 title in 2019. Photograph: Nathaniel S Butler\/NBAE\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Arthur says Raptors fans will always associate Leonard with the championship win. \u201cI think the bottom line isn\u2019t necessarily about a lack of moral reckoning by Raptors fans as much as: this guy\u2019s so good that you forgive him, right?\u201d says Arthur. \u201cThe [championship] was the greatest moment in franchise history by galaxies. Two and a half million people on the streets of Toronto for the parade. That was one of the best days Toronto\u2019s ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n The sentiment was seemingly shared by the organization. Despite being frustrated by the way his previous free agency unfolded, the Raptors front office couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to grab the lifeline Leonard represented \u2013 even in his mid 30s. The Raptors have failed to win a playoff series since 2020, a stretch that includes three grim seasons of 30 wins or fewer. Last season, the franchise pulled itself out of the dregs of the league thanks to a star leap from 25-year-old Scottie Barnes and a handful of smart trades and draft picks, but the Raptors looked like a relatively expensive, middle-of-the-pack team with a difficult path towards contention until Leonard not only became available, but pushed his way towards Toronto.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Weekly for the 2026 WNBA season<\/p>\n Sign up to WNBA 30<\/p>\n A limited run women\u2019s basketball newsletter dedicated to the league\u2019s historic 30th season. <\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThis city took a liking to my family, and I took a liking to this city,\u201d Leonard said in the team-owned documentary series Open Gym<\/a> after the Raptors traded Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a pick-swap for him in mid-September. \u201cHopefully they embrace me back and [I] give them my all again, and we can make something special happen once again.\u201d<\/p>\n Although there were extenuating circumstances leading to Leonard\u2019s return \u2013 he and the Clippers are under investigation<\/a> by the Justice Department \u2013 it is meaningful that he chose the Raptors over big-market championship contenders like Miami, Minnesota, and Detroit. It\u2019s also important that he proclaimed his desire to retire a Raptor before <\/a>signing a two-year, $115m extension with the franchise. \u201cHe deserves to have his jersey retired somewhere,\u201d says Lou. \u201cBut due to the circumstances of his career, he kind of was a player without a home.\u201d<\/p>\n Leonard now has a chance to rewrite his complicated legacy with a familiar franchise. Leading the Raptors back to anywhere near the promised land would ensure him a jersey retirement ceremony, a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction, and Canadian sports immortality.<\/p>\n The Raptors, meanwhile, aren\u2019t just getting an upgrade at the wing position; they are getting an all-time great coming off one of the best seasons of his career \u2013 an American superstar who experienced all the small cultural discomforts of playing in Toronto and still had such positive memories of the fans, organization, and city that he chose to return to.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792408934_72_wnba_newsletter_(35eacf7cad976602e57c2c59c926a2575e382de6)_(4).jpg\")
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