October 20, 2018
He arrived, to borrow from the great orator Winston Churchill, a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, of whom everything was known but nothing was, really.
He showed up with a glittering past as an outstanding basketball player who hadn’t really played in an entire season. He arrived as an intensely private individual in this era of social media self-promotion. His first utterances, about what kind of man he was, elicited a deadpanned “I’m a fun guy.”
All’s good with Kawhi as Raptors’ season kicks off
No one really knew what to make of Kawhi Leonard when he first set foot in Toronto, the former San Antonio Spur acquired merely for longtime fan favourite DeMar DeRozan.
But any worries have dissipated, any concerns have been soothed because all that really matters is how he plays basketball. And he’s doing that about as well as anyone could have hoped.
“Well, our offence is kind of equal opportunity, right, but it always … tends to gravitate toward the guys who can score,” head coach Nick Nurse said as the pre-season unfolded. “The ball’s going to find him. He’s going to have a lot of chances.”
The pre-season was unspectacular from a statistical standpoint for the 27-year-old Leonard, but it is after all the pre-season and doesn’t count for anything. He played in just three of the five games, averaged 13.3 points per game on 10.7 field-goal attempts per game and missed a bunch of free throws. But he got through the games and the practices without incident and the bad right leg that limited him to nine games last season has not been an issue.
He has been his usual swarming, long-limbed, big-handed, disruptive influence on defence at times, a sure sign that he hasn’t lost anything from the skills that made him twice the NBA’s defensive player of the year and the most valuable player of the 2014 NBA final.
That versatility plays perfectly into the style that Nurse wants the Toronto Raptors to play; Leonard’s ability to guard multiple positions allows for a switch-everything defence that doesn’t put the Raptors at a positional deficiency. And if Toronto needs a lockdown defender on a hot opponent, they’ve got one in the six-foot-seven Leonard.
“I want to do great things,” Leonard said recently. “So I’m going to make sure that I put all my effort on the court, each and every night.”
His ability to be an above-average player both offensively and defensively is what makes him most valuable to his team, and his impact on the game can vary from night to night or even quarter to quarter.
“I think there is a lot of length and speed and athleticism and a lot of want-to showing up right now. It’s fun to watch,” Nurse said of the team anchored by Leonard. “There were some stretches in this pre-season it was more fun to watch them on defence than offence. That’s a good way to live.”
Leonard’s interaction with the public and the press has been fine. He has not blown off interview requests and he answers questions honestly if not loquaciously. Small talk may not be his thing, but who cares?
His teammates have found him engaging and possessing leadership qualities that franchises can use. Danny Green, innately familiar with Leonard from their time together in San Antonio, lauded him for his new-found willingness to speak his mind and take control. Teammates who didn’t know him well wonder what all the fuss was about.
“He does have a quiet demeanour, no question,” said C.J. Miles. “But for what I was expecting it’s 10 times more communication than I would have thought just from what you see and what you hear. But he has been great. He is sharing his knowledge. He obviously plays hard. He is a great defender and he does things the right way.
“So him having more of a voice will only help us because he already — with his play — he says enough ... Having him lead the young guys and him stepping forward to help us in situations is always going to be great.”
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Olivia Munn Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Double Mastectomy Procedure | E! News
March 13, 2024
kUaEV1Kd3S0
Travis Kelce Shares Details From His Trip to Singapore With Taylor Swift | E! News
March 13, 2024
3YXi-Dgf4eg
Kate Middleton VIRAL Photo: Agency Addresses Photoshop Claims | E! News
March 13, 2024
S4VkO0TpkCY
Da'Vine Joy Randolph Plays 'Smash or Pass' With Iconic Moments From Her Career
March 13, 2024
vkPdJEF2BX4
Jean Smart Wears a Hotel Bathrobe to Present an Award to Hannah Einbinder l Power of Comedy SxSW
March 12, 2024
Bw7uVEYQev4
Lenny Kravitz Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 12, 2024
MlWq8BcnwhE
Dak Prescott Extortion Plot & Steph Curry for President? | TMZ Sports Full Ep - 3/12/24
March 13, 2024
jHFsrjs7OFY
A Japanese space rocket blew up after takeoff Tuesday, turning the sky into a fireball of smoke.
March 13, 2024
YkfJ3Qg8B7c
#KimKardashian and #BiancaCensori hung out at #KanyeWest's listening party Tuesday night!
March 13, 2024
EfwLLq6bx9k
‘Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond denies using Ozempic to lose 60 pounds
March 13, 2024
Omfjk1AlZ3A
Chrissy Teigen reveals her ‘boob lift scars’ in daring dress at Jay-Z & Beyoncé’s Oscars 2024 party
March 13, 2024
VxZ2qXAlpmU
Zoë Kravitz pokes fun at dad Lenny Kravitz's style during Hollywood Walk of Fame speech
March 13, 2024
j3-lcFu_1sQ
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
SC Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen
17
Mar
USA: Major League Soccer
Atlanta United - Orlando City
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
West Ham United - Aston Villa
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Rayo Vallecano - Real Betis
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Championship
Leeds - Millwall
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Las Palmas - Almeria
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Villarreal - Valencia
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Sevilla - Celta Vigo
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
09
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund
09
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Arsenal - Brentford
09
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Bologna - Inter Milan
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.