Home BASKETBALL NBA Back to the North: Kawhi Leonard Returns to Toronto in Storybook Homecoming

Back to the North: Kawhi Leonard Returns to Toronto in Storybook Homecoming

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Kawhi Leonard
Leonard heads home

The Raptors are bringing Kawhi Leonard home. With just one playoff series win since 2019, Toronto is going all-in for another title run.


Can Kawhi do it again? Leonard returns to Toronto chasing another title...


4.2 seconds left. Score tied at 90. 


The Raptors had the ball on the sideline - one last shot to win it. Across the court, the 76ers were set on defense, determined to force overtime.


It was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Win and you go to the East Finals. Lose and your season’s over. 


Kawhi Leonard knew there was no tomorrow. He shook free at the top of the key and took the inbound pass.


He didn’t waste half a second. 


Leonard spun and attacked right, to his strong hand, driving downhill. Philly sent two at him immediately. 


Trapped in the right corner, he pulled up over the double and let a fadeaway go. The shot left his hands just as the buzzer sounded and the backboard lit up red.


It kissed the rim. Bounced. Bounced again. Bounced a third time. Bounced a fourth. 


Then it dropped. 


The shot gave Toronto a dramatic 2-point win.






Toronto’s arena exploded. The Raptors had survived a Game 7 thriller against Philly and were headed to the Conference Finals. 


Leonard’s shot is still one of the most iconic in NBA history - the only Game 7 series-winner on a buzzer-beater in playoff history.


From there, Toronto kept going. They beat the Golden State Warriors in six games to win the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship.


Leonard put up 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals a night through the 2019 playoffs, and took home Finals MVP honors.


Built for Defense, Drafted for Greatness

Leonard spent two years at San Diego State before declaring for the 2011 NBA Draft. 


The Indiana Pacers picked him 15th overall, then traded him to the San Antonio Spurs on draft night.


The California kid came into the NBA with a different kind of profile. 


Scoring wasn’t his calling card. What stood out was his work ethic and motor that never quit.


And physically? He was built different. 6'7" with a 7'3" wingspan and massive 11-inch hands. 


It didn’t take long for Leonard to turn into one of the league’s best perimeter defenders.


He wasted no time making an impact in San Antonio. 


As a rookie, Leonard started 39 of the 64 games he played. He put up 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per night and finished 4th in Rookie of the Year voting.


Year two was even bigger. He helped lead the Spurs to the NBA Finals, but ran into LeBron James and the Miami Heat. San Antonio fell short in 7 games.




That Finals loss lit a fire under him. 


By year 3 in San Antonio, Leonard came back with a veteran’s poise. 


He averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals. And he did it efficiently - 52.2% from the field and 37.9% from three.


For the first time in his career, Leonard landed on the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. 


The top-seeded Spurs powered back to the Finals, and waiting for them were the Heat - again. This time the result was different. San Antonio ran through Miami in 5 games.


Leonard was the star of the series. 
He put up 17.8 points a night on 61% shooting and took home Finals MVP honors.


At just 22, Leonard became the third-youngest player ever to win Finals MVP. Only Magic Johnson did it younger, at 20 and 22.


The next season he picked up his first Defensive Player of the Year award. 


By 2015-2016, he leveled up again - first All-Star nod, back-to-back DPOY, and a 2nd-place finish in MVP voting behind Steph Curry.




Things Fall Apart in San Antonio

2017 was when it all unraveled. 


By then Leonard was a full-blown superstar, but injuries derailed him. A nagging quadriceps issue cost him the first 27 games. 


He finally got back, played only nine games total, then went down again with a shoulder strain.


He made a brief comeback, but it didn’t last. 


Soon after, the Spurs shut him down indefinitely to keep rehabbing his quadriceps tendinopathy. 


Here’s where things got tense: San Antonio’s doctors reportedly cleared him, but Leonard wanted another opinion and decided to stay out.


In March 2018 the team held a players-only meeting. Reports said his teammates urged him to come back. It was described as “emotional and tense.” 


Leonard still didn’t return to the floor that season.


With the relationship in San Antonio broken beyond repair, Leonard asked for a trade.  


He wanted to go to the Lakers. The Spurs had other plans and shipped him to Toronto in 2018 instead.


It wasn’t the destination he picked, but it worked out.  


Leonard won his second Larry O’Brien Trophy and his second Finals MVP with the Raptors.  


That put him in rare company - just the third player ever to win Finals MVP with two different teams, and the first to do it with teams from both conferences.


After winning it all, Leonard took his talents home. He signed a 3-year, $103 million deal with the LA Clippers.


The next six seasons in LA were a mixed bag. Individually, he was still elite - big performances, All-Star selections, and plenty of accolades. 


But as a team, the Clippers never broke through. They got past the first round just once, making it to the 2021 Western Conference Finals before losing to the Phoenix Suns. LA hasn’t won a playoff series since.






Leonard just had one of his best seasons yet, averaging 27.9 points per game. But it didn’t translate to wins - the Clippers got bounced in the play-in and missed the playoffs entirely. 


In February, the front office made a big move, trading James Harden and Ivica Zubac. That signaled a possible shift toward a rebuild and a younger core. Leonard also hit a milestone, turning 35 on June 29.


At first, the team’s president of basketball operations said they were planning to keep Leonard around.


“Our plan is to win with Kawhi,” he said. “We obviously showed as an organisation that we want to continue, and we are driven to win. So, at the appropriate time, we’ll sit down with Kawhi, and very similar to 2024, lay out our plan. And if our goals are aligned, then we’d like to win with Kawhi.”


A Return to Toronto

Leonard wanted to stay too. But during those talks, the Clippers didn’t offer him a long-term deal. 


Then the bombshell dropped.  
Kawhi Leonard is heading back to Canada.




For Leonard, this feels like coming full circle. 


For the Clippers, it’s a clear signal they’re tearing things down and trying to break out of mediocrity. 


And for Toronto, it’s a risk. A big one.  


The question is simple: can Leonard actually stay on the court? He missed all of 2021-22 with a torn ACL, and last season he only played 37 games.


But when he plays, he’s still elite. 


Since coming back from his knee injury, Leonard has knocked down 40.5% of his threes - basically Steph Curry territory at 40.6% over that same stretch. 


This year he also averaged 1.9 steals a night, good for top 5 in the league. And he was the oldest guy on that list by a lot - the other four were all 25 or younger.


Bringing Leonard back is Toronto’s bet on getting out of the middle and chasing another title.


Since he left, the Raptors have only won one playoff series. This season they went 40-36 and grabbed the 5th seed. 


But the run ended early - they pushed the 4th-seeded Cavaliers to 7 games and lost.




In just one year with Toronto, Leonard dropped 732 points in the playoffs. That’s the 3rd-highest total for a single postseason ever - only Michael Jordan and LeBron James have scored more.


The Raptors are going all-in on the guy who gave them their first title.


Now the question is straightforward: can Kawhi Leonard do it again in Canada and carry Toronto back to championship glory?
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