Board Man Comes Home
Kawhi inevitably returned home and shocked the world by joining Paul George in Los Angeles with the Clippers. Although the constructs of his deal with the Clippers were much different than his arrival in Toronto, the sentiment of the fans is nearly identical.
We’ve gone deep into the dynamics that make Kawhi such a legend in Canada, despite having such a short stay. What makes this move to the Clippers so wild, is that he’s joining a situation much like the one he inherited in Toronto.
After the Raptors broke through and reached the Finals, they narrowed the list of teams to never achieve such a feat. Among that list is the Los Angeles Clippers, who actually reside in a more exclusive club of just three teams to never even reach a Conference Finals.
Long story short, Clipper fans have seen some hard times.
Like the Raptors though, the Clippers have actually had quite a bit of success over the past decade. Making the playoffs every year but one since 2011 is an impressive run for a Clippers’ franchise that was widely considered the worst in all of sports before its recent resurgence. Even more similar to the Raptors, however, is that all of these playoff runs ended in painful heartbreak.
Living through playoff letdowns year after year is a humbling experience. As a fan of a team who has never won a championship, what is there to get boast about? This commonality existed between the fans of both the Raptors and the Clippers before Kawhi freed Toronto from their drought.
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Because of this reality, a player like Kawhi Leonard simply means more to such a fanbase. After watching what Kawhi did for the entire country of Canada, Clipper fans are now optimistic that such a future is in place for them as well.
In the same way Toronto welcomed Kawhi back to their city with open arms, the Clippers and their fans have embraced him in his home town. It isn’t just the All-Star selections, Championships, and Finals MVPs that draw the Clippers to Kawhi.
After watching him put an underrepresented city and country on his back, the Clippers and their fans were able to look on in admiration and see a guy who fits everything they’re about.
Being the only NBA team outside of the United States, the Toronto Raptors are inevitably underrepresented. To a guy like Kawhi, that fits his persona. He shows up, he plays basketball, and he wins. Upon his arrival to the Clippers, he was asked a question about the shadow cast over the Clippers by the Lakers all these years and if that’s something he’s looking to change.
Kawhi’s answer proved to every Clipper fan watching, that this guy belonged. After first reminding the reporter that the Clippers have been the better team for quite some time now, he continued by saying none of that is important to him. He ended his answer with a quote that rang true with every Clipper fan, “If we win the championship and we don’t get any coverage, I’m good.”
Such a quote from Kawhi is the reason why he was the perfect Toronto Raptor, and why he is already the perfect Los Angeles Clipper. Subtleties like that don’t go unnoticed by a fanbase like the Clippers.
Without any history to cling to, they cherish what they have. Right now that is Kawhi Leonard, and his hero’s welcome back to Toronto was a perfect representation of the sentiment already held by the fans in his new home as a Clipper.