After weeks of anticipation and nervous fervor – and a helicopter chase through the city – NBA fans learned Saturday Kawhi Leonard is leaving the Toronto Raptors to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
Mr. Leonard reportedly took a $142-million deal for a maximum of four years, and will team up with Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for two players, one protected first-round pick, four unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps.
The news broke overnight Saturday – what many are calling an excellent political play by Mr. Leonard to evade the inevitable deluge of media attention – so most east-coast Raptors fans were sleeping. Many woke up to a shock.
Fan reaction immediately started flooding social platforms.
As of Saturday afternoon, all top 10 trending Twitter searches in Canada were Raptors-related, with celebrities, NBA players and politicians weighing in on the news.
Toronto Mayor John Tory thanked Mr. Leonard for helping the Raptors secure Toronto’s first-ever NBA championship.
“We’ll still love you, but there’s going to be no mercy when you come back here and play our Raptors,” he said in a video posted to Twitter. “Because they’re going to be in it, and they’re going to win it again. We just wish we could do it with you.”
Mr. Tory gave Mr. Leonard a key to the city a month ago as a reward for the historic Canadian win.
NBA analysts and league experts had been guessing what the superstar’s future would be for weeks. Many had confidently staked their intel on Kawhi either choosing to remain with the Raptors or signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. They were proven wrong.
There was little immediate response from the Raptors roster. Danny Green was among the first to congratulate Mr. Leonard and tease his own announcement, later telling fans on his podcast that he would be moving to the Lakers on a two-year, $30-million deal.
Fred VanVleet had previously commented on Leonard’s free agency: “If he’s on another team, then we’ll just have to kick his ass next year.”
Jordan Loyd simply acknowledged the drama.
Raptor’s President Masai Ujiri released a statement, saying, “We are very thankful for the year that Kawhi and Danny played with us here in Toronto, and I know the city and the entire country of Canada are grateful for everything they did to help us to win our first NBA Championship.”
Throughout all the craziness, one thing was predictable: most Canadians fans remained extraordinarily grateful for the championship Mr. Leonard handed them, and mainly had only kind words to say about the King of the North.