Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard reacted to his first game back in Toronto after seven years away with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Leonard spent one season in Toronto in 2018-19, and it was a memorable one, as he helped lead the Raptors to the franchise’s first and only NBA Championship.
Immediately after winning the chip, Leonard signed a free-agent contract to head back home to Los Angeles and play with the Clippers, where he spent seven seasons, achieving very little playoff success in the process.
With the Clippers moving to a rebuilding phase, it made sense to move on from Leonard, especially in the wake of the Aspiration scandal, and Los Angeles traded him back to Toronto this summer.
Kawhi Leonard and Raptors Win Against Chicago Bulls
On Wednesday night, the Raptors won their season opener at home with a dominant 135-92 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Leonard scored 23 points in 24 minutes of game action in the blowout win.
After the game, the always-stoic Leonard spoke to reporters and shared his reaction to a successful return to Toronto.
“I’m not really assessing it right now. I never really do. We won the game. Just trying to do what it takes. It’s one game. We’re going to get better. That’s it,” Leonard said.
“I’m not really assessing it right now. I never really do.”
“We won the game. Just trying to do what it takes.”
“It’s one game. We’re going to get better. That’s it.”
Kawhi Leonard Explains Why He Wanted to Stay on the Floor
The Raptors completely blew out the Bulls, so Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic could have easily just sat Leonard on the bench the entire second half had he wanted to do some load management.
But Leonard wanted to play and get some minutes in despite the game being out of reach.
“I haven’t got a chance to play much in training camp. Any minutes I could get, or continue to play. I know we was blowing them out, but the goal was to try to get 23-24 minutes tonight. I need more reps to learn plays. This is where you get better… You can’t wait till practice and shoot 100 shots. You need game reps. Even on the defensive end, just being able to make calls on the fly instinctively,” Leonard said.
Kawhi Leonard Reacts to His 1st Game Back With Raptors