Kawhi Leonard had one of the greatest single-season stints that a player can have when he won the Finals MVP during the Raptors’ 2019 championship run. Hence, one of the biggest questions that remains in the NBA world’s mind is how he could leave the Raptors for the Clippers immediately after having a historic season like that.
His former teammate, Fred VanVleet, recently appeared on the ‘Hello & Welcome podcast’ and unveiled that he never intended to stay with the franchise for more than one season, irrespective of the result.
“No. And the only reason why is because he did what he came to do. And he said it from day one, I’m not staying here. So from day one, he said, ‘I don’t know why they traded for me. I don’t want to be here. I’m not staying here.'”
“Now, Toronto put their best bid in, man. The city bowed down as we’ve never seen before, man. And so yes, as for us regular people, we can look at it and say, man, how could you leave that? But his mind was made up, man. Kawhi is Kawhi,” said VanVleet.
“I thank him eternally for helping us win the championship and carrying us to a moment where I could be solidified and go on to make a ton of money, and we are forever indebted to him for that. But yes, you could look back and say, ‘Oh, we wish he had done this. He wishes he had done that.’ I’m just thankful that we got the job done. You know what I’m saying? He changed a lot of people’s lives.”
Leonard led the Raptors to effectively end the Warriors’ hopes in 2019 of pulling off a three-peat like the Bulls and the Lakers. During that Finals MVP run, he averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 43.4% from the field.
His former teammates remain in anguish over what they could have achieved together. Yet they also respect the fact that he was real with them from day one. Both Leonard and VanVleet have, since the 2019 championship run, left the Raptors to join the Clippers and the Rockets, respectively.
According to Nick Nurse, who was the Raptors’ head coach at the time of their championship run, Leonard had always intended to return home and start a fresh legacy after leaving the Spurs.
Therefore, they knew it was only a pit stop for Leonard before he tried to head home to Los Angeles. As a result, none of the offers from the Raptors were sufficient to convince Leonard to stay longer.
It is also noteworthy to point out that, considering Leonard’s motivation was always to create his own legacy in his hometown of Los Angeles, he wouldn’t need extra money as a motivation to keep him there with the Clippers.
The Raptors have now recovered from the gap that Kawhi Leonard left in their franchise with a full rebuild around Scottie Barnes. While the Los Angeles-native is happily playing for the Clippers.
