Warm reception expected as Kawhi returns to Toronto
RAPTORS FANS MORE GRATEFUL THAN HATEFUL OF KAWHI LEONARD
Two nights after Paul George’s hostile treatment in Indiana, it should be nothing but love for his teammate Kawhi Leonard in Toronto Leonard will be presented with his NBA championship ring in a pregame ceremony today in a city that appears to be more grateful than hateful toward the enigmatic superstar who left for his hometown L.A. in the off-season.
“It will be great man, a guy like (Leonard) coming back to a place that he called home for a year, and helped us do some fantastic things,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. “I think it’s going to be an unbelievable night — rather for the first five minutes, and then after that it’s a basketball game.”
It was an unbelievably ugly night for George on Monday. More than two years after he left the Pacers, he’s still Public Enemy No. 1 in Indiana. The ugly jeering threw off Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who told ESPN he was “shocked” and “ill-equipped.”
“It was offensive to me,” Rivers said. “I was unprepared for that.”
The boos failed to throw the 29year-old George off his game. He scored 36 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lift the Clippers — who were playing without Leonard — to an 11-point win over Indiana.
“That’s Indiana for you,” George told reporters afterward. “You know what, some day I’ll do a ‘tell-all,’ and I’ll tell the leading events of how I left Indiana. And I promise you I’m not the one to boo.”
The story of Leonard’s departure, while heartbreaking for fans, had a much more positive spin. There were tribute videos to the player dubbed King of the North in the wake of his exodus. He received a hero’s welcome in a pre-season game in Vancouver. Leonard said he’s been approached by numerous Canadians in California who wanted to say thanks.
Today’s pre-game ceremony at Scotiabank Arena — where two seats behind the broadcast table were going for more than $10,000 apiece on the secondary market Tuesday — should prompt a similar outpouring of gratitude.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse expects “an amazing ovation.”
“If they give him one-fifteenth of what they gave us on opening night, it’s still going to be something. It was really amazing the night we got ours,” the coach said.
Lowry said he remains friends with Leonard. They text and joke regularly. There’s something special and lasting, Lowry said, about a group of players who win a championship together.
“It will be good to see him (Wednesday) night,” Lowry said. “Once he sees (his ring) and puts it on . . . he’s going to go ‘Wow!’ and then he’s going to be ready to go hoop.”