National Post (National Edition)
HOOPLA SURROUNDS LEONARD’S RETURN TO SAN ANTONIO
Six months later, Kawhi Leonard is still not ready to discuss exactly why he asked out of San Antonio.
The Raptors leading scorer, the former face of the Spurs franchise, arrived at the morning shootaround to a throng of reporters and cameras and while he took questions for five minutes, the only one he wouldn’t answer was why he left.
“I’m not going to discuss that here today,” Leonard said.
It seems unlikely Leonard will ever explain that.
What we know and all we might ever know is a hip injury wound up limiting Leonard to just nine games in his final season as a member of the Spurs. At one point Leonard and his representatives determined it was in his best interests to conduct his own rehab away from the team and its medical staff. What led to that is the unknown. There’s been plenty of speculation from parties outside the disagreement but neither the Spurs or Leonard’s camp have addressed why things spiralled out of control so quickly.
What that uncertainty and the subsequent trade did accomplish was to take a normally run-of-the-mill regular season game (last night in San Antonio) and turn it into the type of event and grudge game usually reserved only for the playoffs.
Even Leonard was talking about how a game like Thursday’s in an expected hostile environment with both teams desperate to claim victory, even if they downplayed that aspect, could help him.
Leonard seemed fully prepared for a rough ride from the San Antonio crowd.
“Yeah, I said this before. It can only make me a better player,” he said in reference to the expected reaction. “We have a longer road than what we are going to see from this team, so it can only make me and us better.”
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse viewed the game as a bit of a gift in terms of the test it would offer his team. “I’m kind of looking forward to it,” Nurse said prior to the morning shootaround. “I’m expecting it to be a playofftype atmosphere in here, on the road, really loud, not very nice, the things that you will see in the playoffs. We have to kind of embrace it. We keep saying that all of these games are preparing us for later on down the road, so I hope it’s wild and noisy and a close game and all those things that can help us grow as a team. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
WHAT ABOUT JAK?
Spurs all-star Patty Mills was not about to let the opportunity pass. Asked about facing Leonard and Danny Green and how his new teammate Demar Derozan was fitting in, Mills refused to let the scrum end.
“Isn’t someone going to ask me about Jak?” Mills asked.
When the question eventually did come, Mills was only too happy to pump the tires of his newest second unit running mate Jakob Poeltl, the former first round pick of the Raptors and part of the cost that brought Leonard and Green to Toronto.
“He looks great,” Mills said beaming like a proud big brother. “I think over the last two or three weeks he’s really fit into our system more because he’s understanding what we expect from him and his role and he’s turning into quite the player and fitting into the system quite well. I like his competitive fire too, especially on the glass. He’s getting defensive and offensive rebounds and giving us second chance points. As shooters we love that, getting a second chance at a three-pointer. He has great hands and is a good passer as well. He’s able to pick up the ball off the roll in the pick and roll as well as anybody.’’
Mills then provided Poeltl the ultimate Spurs’ compliment by comparing him to the incomparable Tim Duncan. “Especially with being able to find him as he rolls to the basket,” Mills said. “The king of that was Timmy (Duncan). Just being able to get the ball in his area and not worry about him having to fumble it. Poeltl’s definitely growing and developing. Another great guy who is getting along with everyone on the team. Very proud to have him on board and excited to watch him grow into quite the player as well.”
If that wasn’t enough of an ego boost, there were kind words from his new head coach as well.
“Every night, he brings it.” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said about Poeltl. “He runs the floor, he plays defence, he rebounds. He cares a lot. He’s improving week by week. So he’s been a great role player.”