For Toronto Raptors center Serge Ibaka, Kawhi Leonard is ‘really happy' now that he has won a second NBA championship, one in each conference and one in Canada.
Beyond their time together in the regular season and in the playoffs, Ibaka and Leonard have grown closer in the past few days after winning the title. Ibaka observed that Leonard is really happy — and that's what's important.
Per Eric Koreen of The Athletic:
“He’s really happy, he’s really happy,” said Ibaka, who spent the last few days with Leonard in the Bay Area, Las Vegas and then Los Angeles. “I’ve been talking with him a lot during the season and in the playoffs, but after we won, I can see the man is happy. That’s the most important, because we play this sport because we want to enjoy and have fun and be happy and be somewhere people love you. I’m sure he feels that people here love him, and after this moment, that’s the most important.”
Almost every NBA fan knows how tumultuous it was for Leonard to handle the particular set of complications which affected his career last year. From not seeing eye-to-eye with the San Antonio Spurs medical staff, to being hated by some fans, to requesting a trade, Kawhi went through a roller-coaster.
Though his trade request was granted, he ended up with a team that wasn't on the list of his preferred destinations. Yet Leonard played on. The Raptors' staff took care of him and limited his workload. Now, Leonard is a champion once again. It's the perfect ending to a luminous chapter in his basketball career.
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