Look who’s leading Raptors
Rogers: Leonard’s play sparks 17-4 Toronto
Did the biggest off-court upset of the NBA season just happen?
Did Kawhi Leonard, the quietest and most chronically abrupt superstar in basketball, really just get the better of Gregg Popovich, a man eloquent and well-versed enough that some would have him run for president?
You’d better believe it.
What started as a response by Spurs head coach Popovich to a question about Patty Mills’ leadership evolved into the kind of daytime soap opera that is a hallmark of the NBA.
“Kawhi was a great player, but he wasn’t a leader or anything,” Popovich said in Milwaukee on Saturday, when quizzed about how Mills had stepped up since the departure of Leonard, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. “Manu and Patty were the leaders. Kawhi’s talent will always be missed, but that leadership wasn’t his deal at that time.”
The spat that followed might have passed by without further comment, even after Leonard responded Sunday, if not for the fact that the reticent Rap- tors player trumped his old coach in a way no one could have predicted.
“It’s just funny to me,” Leonard said after the Raptors sunk Miami to move to 17-4, comfortably the league’s best record. “I don’t know if he’s talking about last year or not, but I guess when you stop playing they forget how you lead.”
Leonard spoke calmly and concisely but he made his point and seemed to enjoy doing so. Not many people survive unscathed from a chess match with Popovich, but Leonard got his licks in and appears to be loving life north of the border.
It is, of course, possible to be a tremendous basketball player without being an inspirational leader, and a large part of Toronto’s early-season surge is down to the simple fact that the Raptors have added one of the best assets in the league to an already stellar squad.
Yet Leonard’s teammates and his coach, Nick Nurse, speak in glowing terms about his low-key strength and ways of lifting those around him. Leon- ard might not be the guy who screams and emotes and demands greater effort, but it is unlikely the Raptors would be rolling quite this effectively if he brought nothing more to the table than his on-court skill set.
If we learned something about where Leonard is at mentally right now from his willingness to metaphorically butt heads with future Hall of Famer coach Popovich instead of retreating into a cone of silence, we might glean additional info about him and the Raptors this week.
Toronto visits Memphis to take on the rugged Grizzlies on Tuesday, in a game in which victory would secure the team’s third six-game winning streak of the young season. After that, the Raptors return home for a mouth-watering matchup against the inconsistent defending champion Warriors on Thursday.
The Raptors look very much like the real deal; a pair of high-caliber wins would only reinforce it.
Leonard is averaging 24.7 points per game, and his intensity and effort have already made him a favorite in Toronto.
Meanwhile, without him, the Spurs headed to Chicago on Monday night at 9-10, in 12th place in the powerhouse Western Conference.
San Antonio might not be missing leadership, but they’re missing something that Leonard was able to provide — and whatever it is, the Raptors like it a lot.