As a tumultuous situation brewed around the usually straight-forward San Antonio Spurs organization last season, it appeared as if on the surface, their relationship with Kawhi Leonard grew rather tense.
Leonard’s confusing injury concerns kept him out of all but nine games last season and when the campaign came to an end, the disgruntled forward unsurprisingly asked to be dealt. Leonard finally got his wish when the Spurs traded him and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick. Now weeks later, Leonard penned a letter which he sent to San Antonio Express-News, thanking the Spurs organization and his teammates for his seven years there.
Kawhi’s full Thank You letter to #Spurs …teammates and fans #NBA pic.twitter.com/oC8iFSzjXp
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) August 9, 2018
Obviously, Kawhi Leonard had a spectacular stint with the Spurs while he was there, winning a championship while also securing Finals MVP honors. Head coach Gregg Popovich did an incredible job helping mold him into a top-tier player after being largely overlooked following his collegiate career at San Diego State.
However, the split between the Spurs and Leonard looked inevitable following last year’s drawn-out fiasco. Though the Spurs and the city of San Antonio helped him develop into the player he has become, he will now have the opportunity to shine even brighter in a shaky Eastern Conference.
With LeBron James out of the picture, Leonard and the Raptors can take command of the Eastern Conference throne. With his rollercoaster career in San Antonio now fully behind him, Leonard can focus on regaining full health and carrying Toronto deep into the postseason next year.
