SAN ANTONIO — Excessive above the ground on the AT&T Heart grasp the retired numbers of eight former San Antonio Spurs. Kawhi Leonard seemingly has a really robust case to see his outdated No. 2 hoisted amongst them sometime.
“I might assume so,” Danny Inexperienced stated Thursday evening, when he and Leonard made their shared return to San Antonio as members of the Toronto Raptors.
“He’s a finals MVP, led this crew to a championship, gained a pair defensive participant of the years,” Inexperienced added. “Not everyone who’s come via right here has executed that.”
But it’s likewise true that no Spur over these previous twenty years of rampant San Antonio success left city the best way Leonard did. No distinguished Spur earlier than Leonard, within the Gregg Popovich period, ever compelled his method out in such contentious circumstances.
So you need to consider that it’s going to be a very long time round right here earlier than the Spurs, and particularly their jilted followers, will be capable to look again with fondness on the simple highs of Leonard’s time within the Alamo Metropolis. That was the clear conclusion after the Spurs inflicted a 125-107 rout upon the Raptors within the groups’ first assembly because the blockbuster commerce in July that despatched Leonard to Toronto — because of the copious quantities of vitriol heaped in his path for practically three hours.
As soon as dubbed the “future face of the franchise” by Popovich himself, Leonard was booed relentlessly in his first sport as a customer to the constructing that served as house for his first seven N.B.A. seasons. He was lustily booed on all 10 pictures he took throughout pregame layup strains, heard the house crowd’s displeasure even louder when he was launched proper after the beloved Inexperienced and was booed each time he took possession of the ball for 4 full quarters.
Throughout a pregame tribute video titled “Thank You Danny & Kawhi,” Leonard and Inexperienced have been alternately jeered and cheered relying on whose face confirmed up on the video board overhead. And on a visit to the free-throw line late within the first half, Leonard was serenaded with an unmistakable chant of “traitor, traitor, traitor.”
The Spurs capitalized on the vitality within the constructing, in addition to the harm absence of the Toronto All-Star level guard Kyle Lowry (again), and romped to a 34-11 lead. Leonard completed with a muted 21 factors and located little consolation past a postgame hug with Popovich — simply two nights faraway from a career-best 45 factors in a victory over Utah.
“I embraced it, loved the second and it’s solely going to make me higher,” Leonard insisted afterward.
Native satisfaction was solely amplified by the efficiency from the All-Star — DeMar DeRozan — that San Antonio acquired from Toronto in trade for Leonard. To underline the marked enchancment in his playmaking since changing into a Spur, in addition to absolutely to spite the Toronto Basic Supervisor Masai Ujiri for giving up on him, DeRozan totaled 21 factors, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his first profession triple-double.
“I instructed him it was about time,” joked Popovich, who added that DeRozan is “enjoying downhill” and “attracting a crowd” to subsequently discover open teammates higher than he ever envisioned when the commerce was made.
“I didn’t know in regards to the passing,” Popovich stated.
Cathartic as the entire night appeared, although, it should take a lot a couple of beatdown for the Spurs to say they’ve healed from the occasions of final season. The crew’s relationship with Leonard steadily deteriorated to the purpose that the Most Beneficial Participant of the 2014 N.B.A. finals, fairly than signal a $219 million contract extension, stunningly requested out.
The presumed reason for that breakdown are disagreements over the therapy of a mysterious leg harm that restricted Leonard to 9 video games final season. We have now to presume, as a result of Leonard has but to elucidate the roots of his discontent, saying once more at Thursday morning’s shootaround when requested to share his motivations for searching for a commerce: “I’m not going to debate that right here at present.”
What’s simple is that the Spurs have been rocked by (and are nonetheless recovering from) Leonard’s willpower to play elsewhere this season after which proceed to free company in July, when the Los Angeles Clippers are broadly anticipated to emerge as a critical risk to signal Leonard away from the Raptors.
All through the Popovich period, which started in earnest when he took over as coach 18 video games into the 1996-97 season, San Antonio has emphasised and brought nice delight in its participant relations as a lot as any crew on the N.B.A. map. It’s a giant purpose the Leonard saga stung the group so deeply.
“It was tough on everyone,” stated the San Antonio guard Bryn Forbes.
Maybe that’s why Popovich, when chatting with reporters earlier than the sport, struggled to minimize the event. He initially dismissed the hoopla surrounding Leonard’s return as a spotlight for “largely you guys” within the information media, earlier than in the end admitting: “However I get it.” Popovich understands in addition to anybody that these wounds gained’t heal rapidly for anybody in South Texas.
The Spurs, thoughts you, are attempting. They’re as much as a stunning seventh within the Western Convention at 22-17, regardless of a scarcity of 3-point specialists at a time they’ve by no means been extra valued within the sport in addition to considerations coming into the season about their collective skill defensively.
After a 1-Four skid in early December through which it suffered defeats by 39, 31 and 34 factors, San Antonio has gained 11 of 14. The Spurs additionally rank No. 1 within the league in offensive effectivity and No. Four in defensive effectivity over the previous month since permitting 120 factors in a Dec. 7 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
It gained’t be lengthy, although, earlier than the Spurs are reunited with Leonard once more. The backdrop will probably be utterly completely different, with Toronto enjoying host to San Antonio on Feb. 22 in entrance of what is going to absolutely be an adoring viewers at Air Canada Centre. However lots of the similar feelings are certain to be dredged up.
“They love him,” Raptors Coach Nick Nurse stated of Leonard. “They love their gamers in Toronto, as you recognize, and he offers them a bit of bit extra each sport.”
As for the place he stands with the San Antonians who as soon as regarded him as an inheritor to these immortalized within the rafters — most notably Tim Duncan and David Robinson — Leonard was compelled to acknowledge that it’s method too quickly to even think about repairing the injury his departure brought about.
“I actually don’t replicate on what occurred in all probability till I retire,” Leonard stated.