There's no denying that Kawhi Leonard was the main man behind the Toronto Raptors' fairytale-like championship run in 2019. Despite spending just one season with the Raptors, the two-time Finals MVP had a tremendous impact on the franchise. As it turns out, however, Leonard didn't exactly have the best reputation during his time with the team.
Not everyone is exactly thrilled with how Leonard handles himself, though.
Raptors legend Kyle Lowry, who is now with the Miami Heat, recently opened up about how some folks viewed Kawhi's alpha dog status in Toronto. Apparently, not everyone was happy about how Leonard operated:
“Kawhi rubbed people the wrong way because of how he operates. He’s like, ‘Yo, give me the ball. I’m gonna get it done,'” Lowry told CJ McCollum on his Pull Up podcast, via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. “You might be like, ‘Kawhi, I’m open.’ But he was like, ‘I’m gonna go get this bucket.’ You understand that he’s the best basketball player on your team. And you got to make sure your big dog gotta eat, you know what I’m saying? Big dog gotta eat. At the end of the day, big dog gotta eat.”
"Kawhi rubbed people the wrong way because of how he operates. He’s like, 'Yo, give me the ball. I’ma get it done.'" You might be like, 'Kawhi, I'm open,' But he's like, 'I’m gonna get this bucket.'" You understand he’s the best player. Big dog gotta eat."
Kyle Lowry on Kawhi pic.twitter.com/CCmmypuXuc
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) September 2, 2021
Kawhi Leonard is one of the most ball-dominant players in the NBA today. His style of play has worked in his favor for many years, and it has resulted in no less than two NBA championships for him. Nevertheless, this did not appear to sit well with some people.
Lowry then revealed that on a personal level, this really did not bother him. His teammates also did not seem to mind so long as Kawhi got the job done:
“We’ll give you the ball, you do your thing,” Lowry added about Leonard. “As long as we win games, we all good. … My role just changed from the year before. … My scoring went down, but my assists went up. … Whatever happens to me, I don’t care. As long as we win.”
Leonard's enigmatic nature often leads to people misinterpreting his true intentions. As such, it isn't surprising that he has developed a “bad” reputation among those that fail to appreciate what he's trying to do. As Lowry explained above, however, it's all good so long as the Ws keep coming. What happens when they don't, though?
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