Los Angeles (AFP)
He is not the most talkative nor the most charismatic of NBA players: Kawhi Leonard expresses himself especially ball in hand and, by offering in Toronto the first final in his history, the winger hit hard after his strange season 2017 -18.
He has in turn cracked three of the most prominent players of the season: the pivot of Orlando Nikola Vucevic, swept 4-1 in the first round, the phenomenon of Philadelphia Joel Embiid, crucified by an improbable basket in the next round ( 4-3), and Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo, asphyxiated in the Eastern conference final (4-2).
But 27-year-old Leonard has kept himself from triumphalism or noisy statements to settle scores with his former San Antonio team or his many detractors.
Just after the match N.6 won against Milwaukee who qualified Toronto for a final duel against the Golden State ogre, he said "(his) satisfaction."
"I worked so hard to relive that after the season I had last year, I always believed in myself and made the decisions that were right for me," he said. firmly told.
Because before being one of the best 2019 play-off players with averages of 31.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, Leonard is an enigma.
- Injury to a thigh -
While San Antonio and his iconic coach Gregg Popovich thought he had Tim Duncan's successor, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the experience with the Spurs ended badly.
Injured with a thigh, he played only nine games last season while the medical management of the Texas franchise considered him yet able to play again.
Leonard, crowned NBA champion in 2014 and twice voted best defender of the Championship (2015, 2016), refused to play because the pain was, according to him, unbearable.
His detractors, including some of his teammates, have criticized him for focusing on his personal interest and wanting to go to the tussle with his leaders to get a new mirobolant contract.
As a result, San Antonio sent him to Toronto as part of an exchange with DeMar DeRozan.
The Californian by birth quickly found his marks in the Canadian franchise, created in 1995.
"There is a great group with good guys and a lot of talent," he summarized recently.
- "Very measured" -
"He gave us his experience and especially his calm," noted his teammate Kyle Lowry. "Kawhi is someone who does not catch fire and who does not fall lower than the ground when it does not go, it is very measured".
The Warriors identified him, unsurprisingly, as the Raptors master trump.
"What he's been doing since the start of the play-offs is incredible," said veteran Shaun Livingston, coach Stephen Curry's lineman.
"He brought to this team what was still missing, he is a great player who makes his teammates play better," he warned.
Steve Kerr, the Golden State coach, had dinner last week with his great friend Gregg Popovich who coached Leonard from 2011 to 2018. To ask him for some tips on how to stop Leonard?
He will not be the only one to follow with great interest the performance of the winger during the final 2019.
Leonard will be a free agent at the end of June and his odds have exploded in a few months: the Lakers and New York Knicks are among the most interested and dream to attract him to reconnect with their past glory.
But the person flees the light and may prefer a franchise less "flashy", like ... Toronto, especially if the Raptors overthrow the Warriors, great favorites.
? 2019 AFP