On Wednesday, Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will play his first game in Toronto since helping the franchise claim the 2019 NBA championship. His offseason decision to sign a max contract with the Clippers — thereby spurring the Raptors — makes for one of the best one-year stints in league history. Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry and head coach Nick Nurse expect the fans to receive Leonard warmly.
“I think the fans appreciate him, I think the organization appreciates him, I think what he did as a basketball player in winning a championship, it was great,” Lowry said, via Mirjam Swanson of the OC Register. “I think it’s going to be a good moment for him and I think he’s gonna be really really happy to get his ring.”
“I think it’s gonna be a really nice occasion, to give him his ring,” said Nurse. “I would imagine that our fans are gonna give him an amazing ovation. If they give him 1/15th of what they gave us on opening night, it’s still gonna be something because it was really amazing the night we got ours.”
Even without Leonard in the picture, Toronto finds itself firmly entrenched in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Both the Clippers and Raptors have established themselves over the first month-plus of the season as legitimate title contenders, so while Wednesday is Leonard's only scheduled date to play in front of the fans that once cheered him on, a rematch in June is far from out of the question.
Toronto is 16-7, good for fifth in the East.
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