Newly acquired All-Star Kawhi Leonard sat down with members of the Toronto Raptors media on Monday for his first official appearance since joining the team. Leonard was asked to describe himself to the fans in Canada who might not know him that well.
Keep in mind that Leonard is a quiet kind of guy. He did, however, seem to be in a good mood.
“A lot of people up here don't know much about you,” Doug Smith of The Toronto Star said to Leonard during the interview. “How would you describe yourself, and what would you like people to know about you?”
“I'm a fun guy,” Leonard replied. “Obviously, I love the game of basketball, but there are more questions that you would have to ask in order for me to tell you about myself. I just can't give you a whole spiel.
“I don't even know where you're sitting at,” Leonard said with a smile, peering past the cameras to find the person asking questions.
Leonard sat out much of last season with the San Antonio Spurs due to a quad injury. In fact, the 27-year-old played in just nine games, racking up averages of 16.2 points on 46.8 percent shooting from the field (31.4 percent from beyond the arc), 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 block in 23.3 minutes per outing.
Though there was some speculation surrounding his injury, Leonard noted that he is “feeling great” in his interview with the media.
The Spurs traded Leonard and Danny Green to the Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick earlier this summer.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse noted Monday that Leonard is “all systems go” for training camp. In fact, Nurse feels that Leonard's health will not be an issue this season.
The Raptors finished the 2017-18 regular season with an overall record of 59-23, which landed the team a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. They could be even better with Leonard on the squad.