Kawhi Leonard is vindicated. Less than a year after his contentious departure from the San Antonio Spurs, he's back on the NBA mountaintop, celebrating his second championship and Finals MVP award as a member of the Toronto Raptors.
After Game 6, Leonard was asked to reflect on what it means to achieve NBA basketball's holy grail in wake of all the drama, including an arduous, lengthy rehabilitation process, he faced since the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
“A lot of people were doubting me,” he said, per Bleacher Report. “Thought I was either faking an injury or didn’t want to play for a team. That was disappointing to me that that was out in the media 'cause I love the game of basketball. Like I always say, if we're not playing this game you're hurt, you're down. So me just going through that, I just knew that I have to make myself happy and no one else.”
Leonard missed all but eight games of his final season with the San Antonio Spurs while dealing with a nagging quad injury. Multiple reports surfaced during his extended absence about the Spurs' frustration with his rehabilitation process, a large portion of which took place outside team facilities. After Leonard's relationship with the team grew sour, he requested a trade from San Antonio, ultimately being dealt to Toronto last summer.
Leonard averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game against the Golden State Warriors, fighting through dogged individual defense from the likes of Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson en route to 60.2 percent true shooting – the mark of elite efficiency. With his second Finals MVP award, he joins LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to win it playing for two different teams.
Leonard, 27, is a free agent this summer.
Follow Us
Subscribe