When Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors almost exactly this time last year, fans had to wait until September’s media day just before training camp to hear from their newest star.
NBA fans in Los Angeles didn’t have to wait nearly as long, with Leonard and fellow L.A. Clippers newcomer Paul George formally introduced to the public on Wednesday.
Quietest sports week of the year or not, the pairing of Leonard, a two-time Finals MVP in his prime and one of the most significant free-agent signees in league history, and George, the reigning NBA MVP finalist, is quite simply a very big deal. Unsurprisingly, a packed house was in attendance at L.A.’s Green Meadows Recreation Center to mark the occasion:
Facing the media and public for the first time since orchestrating the summer’s most shocking deal, Leonard talked about his much-speculated free-agency process and why he chose the Clippers, while also tackling many of the greatest hits from a Raptors season that we’ll never forget, like the parade, Kawine and Dine, ‘load management’ and more.
Here are some takeaways from Leonard’s second introductory press conference in as many years:
“Best parade ever”
We don’t know how seriously Leonard and his team ever took the Raptors as a potential free-agent destination — it was not a question posed to him on Wednesday — but to hear Kawhi explain it, you’d think the franchise certainly was able to offer much of what he was looking for.
Leonard included in his primary factors the desire to play with a championship-winning head coach — “Doc being a championship head coach, that’s something I wanted — an experienced coach,” he said of new coach Doc Rivers, who won a title with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and went on another Finals run in 2010.
“The front office was very transparent with me,” Leonard said of his dealings with the Clippers brass. “They want to win.”
“It’s an opportunity to build our own, you know what I mean? To make history. They haven’t been to a Finals, they haven’t made a Finals. That was big and exciting for me,” he added.
Leonard also added that he was impressed by how little information leaked from the Clippers camp during the rumour-filled free-agency process. “A lot of things are made up now in today’s NBA,” he said. “You can start a blog or website now saying “Kawhi’s doing this, Kawhi’s doing that…” [The Clippers] were true to their word. Nothing really got out.”
Most of his factors included boxes the Raptors could check off, which must be a source of frustration for the team as it did everything in its power to retain Leonard but instead now embark on an unknown future.
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The Raptors have a notoriously leak-proof front office, which proved as much during the free-agency process. They have a proven coach fresh off a title of his own in Nurse (granted, Nurse lacks the two-decades-long NBA head coaching record of Rivers), and a front office that certainly proved it values winning and will do what it takes to put the team in a position to do just that. And in Toronto Leonard was eying an opportunity to build on the history he had just made by bringing an NBA title to Canada.
It ultimately wasn’t where he wanted to continue to build his legacy, but Leonard began his introductions by thanking Toronto and its fans in spectacular fashion, while appearing noticeably more comfortable addressing the crowd as when he first met the Toronto press:
“I want to thank the Toronto Raptor fans. I don’t have social media so I’m not able to put out a paragraph or whatever, but, like I was going to say, thanks to all of Toronto the city, and the country [of Canada]. It was an amazing season. Best parade ever.”
“Thanks to the doctors for delivering my baby boy,” he continued. “He’s three months now and still healthy. I also just wanted to thank the city as far as the restaurants giving out the ‘Kawine and Dine’ throughout the playoffs. I took advantage of that. The players, they already know what’s up. Text, FaceTime me. We’ll talk. Coaching staff as well, and the whole organization really. Just thank you to the whole city.
“But now I’m on my next journey.”
L.A. Story
Of course, there’s one thing the Raptors could have never offered Leonard.
There is no reason to doubt that geography and the hometown factor proved to be a major recruiting tool to help the Clips land both Leonard and George. That much was made abundantly clear on Wednesday.
Promotional messages played up the pair’s L.A. upbringing, including a slick video that played just prior to the duo taking the mic, featuring a ton of clips of each dominating the local high school scene as teenagers. As the video drew to a close, the words “L.A. Our Way” flashed across the screen, a slogan George himself repeated in his opening address.
“Watching that video, I’m ready to go,” Leonard added. He mentioned his history with the organization — “The Clippers are one of the first NBA games I came to [growing up]” — and clearly that kind of connection to the city and it’s people is next to impossible for another market to recreate.
“For my friends and family to be able drive to the game and watch me play, and to see them out there,” Leonard said, “it’s going to be great.”
Wednesday’s press conference also officially tipped off what is sure to be the NBA’s highest-profile rivalry, pitting the league’s two L.A. franchises — and four of it’s biggest stars — against one another.
Clippers-Lakers has never really mattered before. But that’s all changed now.
“The last few years, from a basketball standpoint, the Clippers have been better,” Leonard said, adding that he doesn’t mind if the Lakers continue to get more media coverage regardless. “If we go to the championship and win and we don’t get no coverage, that’s fine by me.”
“The Lakers have their own identity,” George added. “We’re chasing something else.”
The rivalry is off to a hot start. At one point while the players were taking photos with their new uniforms — standard operating procedure — Rivers re-arranged George and Leonard so that Kawhi stood to the right of his new teammate.
Not only can you guarantee that moment will birth countless “213” nicknames and marketing campaigns, but it also stirred up controversy with at least one rowdy Laker fan who likely spoke for many more.
Culture fit
The occasion felt, above all, like a celebration for a Clippers team that has seriously turned their fortunes around under owner Steve Ballmer, going from the laughing stock of the league, to respectable near-contenders, and now championship favourites.
“It was the culture they created that made Kawhi and Paul want to join our group,” said GM Lawrence Frank. “The toughness, the hard-play, the drama-free…”
“We’ve done some winning,” said Rivers. “Now let’s be winners.”
It was clearly the dawning of a new day in Clipperland, and it took mere seconds for the Clippers owner to go Full Ballmer, yelling, “Pretty cool! Pretty damn cool! Wooooh!” He then proceeded to force a standing ovation that looked as uncomfortable as it sounds.
But it’s true that the Clippers employed a tough, defensive-minded style of play that feels absolutely tailored to what both Leonard and George bring to the table — and that is not lost on the duo.
“That’s how I play. It’s a good pairing. They’re going hard on both ends of the floor and they want to win, that’s pretty much my competitive mindset when I step onto the floor.”
“How we play is a lost art in the NBA” said George, who added that he and Leonard had a chance to “rebrand basketball” in Los Angeles.
