TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard is officially a former member of the Toronto Raptors.
The 2019 Finals MVP, along with fellow two-way star Paul George, was formally introduced as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday afternoon, closing the book on his one-year, load-managed, championship-run rollercoaster Raptors ride.
It was a hell of a lot of fun, but it’s over now, and the surest sign of this was seen about 4,000 kilometres away from the sight of Leonard stoically answering questions that were volleyed his way.
At Humber College in Toronto suburb Etobicoke on Wednesday, Fred VanVleet — Leonard’s old teammate, and the man who prevented him from being a unanimous Finals MVP — was busy dropping half-court bombs, playing keep away and, in general, having a great time playing with a host of 7-to-11-year-old kids in total awe to be on the same court as him.
Cracking a small grin as screams reverberated out every time he dropped a three, this was the very image of a man completely unconcerned with the goings on in Southern California that same day.
“You respect and appreciate what he gave to us,” said VanVleet when asked about Leonard after he finished giving a speech to the happy young campers. “From there on if he had chosen to come back, cool. If not, we move forward and we’re back to work and looking forward to next year.”
Though it may be a little difficult to understand given the emotions and feelings Leonard gave to a passionate Raptors fan base that’s seen certain sects feeling jilted by his decision to join the Clippers, VanVleet has made peace with it and believes everyone else should as well.
“No, not really,” said VanVleet on if he was disappointed in Leonard’s free-agent decision. “Like I said, you respect a guy on what he wants to do.
“I think all of us as players have egos and we’re all proud. And I know what I did to help us win a championship and I know what the rest of the guys did. Fans and people from the outside put a lot of stock in the players as being above human status — he’s an unbelievable basketball player, don’t get me wrong, but for us in the locker room, we’re all equal.
“So [I] respect him as a brother, as a friend. He moved on, and we’ve gotta do the same.”
And the easiest way to do that is to get back onto the grind and try to prove that the Raptors are more than just Leonard’s ex-squad.
“We’re hungry again,” said VanVleet. “Obviously it was a great run, we had a good time, we won a ring, but your career doesn’t stop just because you won a championship. So now it’s time to press on and move forward and we’re all hungry and thirsty to try to get back to the Finals.”
This goal might seems unrealistic as Toronto’s roster obviously isn’t as strong sans Leonard, but being written off isn’t exactly new to VanVleet, so why can’t the Raptors remain an Eastern Conference power?
“We’ve dealt with it before and I don’t think any of us felt like we were darlings of the world just because we won a championship,” he said. “Everybody’s seen both sides of it. We won a championship and everyone praises you and pats you on the back and then Kawhi leaves and it’s right back to ground zero with where we were before. So we just stay even-keeled and we stay hungry and we’re back to work and trying to look forward to next year.”
Being level-headed is something of a VanVleet specialty, and is a good way of looking at things — particularly in regards to Leonard’s free-agency decision.
You can remember the good times but there’s no need to dwell on them. The same can be said of when things will inevitably go sour for the Raptors.
So come what may, as VanVleet said repeatedly, “it’s time to move on.”
from Sports - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/32RjgoU
via IFTTT
July 25, 2019 at 03:40AM
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar