Kawhi Leonard’s only been a member of the Toronto Raptors for one season and he’s already become one of the most loved Raptors of all-time.
With the NBA Finals right around the corner Raptors fans are hoping that their team will capture their first NBA title in franchise history, but they’re also thinking further down the line and hoping that Kawhi Leonard decides to stay with the team after this season.
Basketball fans are always reading into every facial expression and quote when it comes to determining whether or not a player is going to stay or leave, and they’re going to have to keep this up until Kawhi makes his decision. One of the signs that Raptors fans have read into and are taking as a positive sign is how much Kawhi’s ‘Uncle Dennis’ has been hanging around the team even when he doesn’t need to be there.
On Tuesday afternoon, TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joined the OverDrive crew to discuss the hype surrounding the Raptors throughout the city, the team’s rise in popularity, and, of course, Kawhi’s future with the team. Here’s what he had to say about Leonard’s ‘Uncle Dennis’ and his relationship with Masai Ujiri and other Raptors staff members.
“We’re seeing Uncle Dennis more and more as the season goes on, as the playoffs have gone on. He’s with the team, he’s travelling with them. He’s around the locker room after games. I can tell you he’s very involved with what’s going on here – high-fiving people, hugging people, talking to players, coaches after the game. He’s developed a very close relationship with Masai Ujiri. There’s some speculation here on my part thinking ‘why is he doing this?’ I understand he’s close with Kawhi and wants to be around, but let’s say they knew that they were leaving like some people have suggested. He can still support Kawhi further behind the scenes, he doesn’t have to be building and cultivating relationships with people he’s going to have to break in a few months from now,” said Lewenberg.
“I don’t mean to suggest that they know that they’re staying. Kawhi, repeatedly tjhis seaso, when he has been asked about it has insisted ‘we don’t know,’ so what I’m suggesting is, maybe they don’t know.”
Do you think Kawhi Leonard will be a member of the Toronto Raptors next season?
(H/T OverDrive/Josh Lewenberg)
