Okay, so I was reading this Reddit thread, and it’s all about this clip where Fred VanVleet basically confirms what everyone kinda already knew: Kawhi Leonard told his Toronto Raptors teammates from day one that he was only there for that one season, 2018-19, and then he was leaving for LA. The whole discussion is this fascinating post-mortem on that whole crazy year.
The overwhelming vibe, especially from Raptors fans, is… gratitude, honestly. There’s this sense that, yeah, he never lied. He was upfront about it being a one-year work trip. And because of that honesty, and more importantly, because he gave absolutely everything on the court, there’s no real bitterness. People are saying you can’t be mad at a guy who showed up, didn’t half-ass it, and delivered the city its first and only NBA championship. They’re comparing it to a perfect one-year rental, the greatest in NBA history. The banner is forever, as one person put it.
The details people remember are wild. They talk about him literally limping through the playoffs, especially during that Bucks series—there’s a specific memory of him limping up the court after dunking on Giannis. He was playing on one leg, and he still put the team on his back. That effort bought him a lifetime of goodwill in Toronto. The consensus is, “He left everything on the court.” So even though everyone knew he was a flight risk, and there were even rumors he might not report at all, he worked his ass off and got the job done.
Now, the flip side of the discussion is about what happened after. There’s a lot of talk about the “shady shit” with the Clippers—how he and his camp made all sorts of demands, with hints of under-the-table deals to bypass salary cap rules. A lot of folks see the Clippers’ lack of success and injuries as karma for how they acquired him. People are kinda chuckling that he’s “scamming a billionaire in LA,” and that’s not Toronto’s problem anymore.
There’s also this interesting thread debating whether the Raptors’ GM, Masai Ujiri, would have been seen as a fool if they hadn’t won. Some argue it was an all-time gamble that just happened to pay off in the one narrow window where Kawhi was (relatively) healthy. Others push back hard, saying Masai’s track record was already stellar, and even without the ring, trading for a distressed superstar like Kawhi was a smart, high-reward move for a team that had hit a ceiling.
A few people bring up how tough it is for Toronto to attract stars—the weather, the taxes, being in another country—which makes that one championship run feel even more miraculous. They contrast Kawhi’s professional approach with other stars who have phoned it in when unhappy, or like Anthony Rendon in MLB, who just gave up after getting a big contract. The comparison makes Kawhi’s Toronto year look even better.
And of course, there are the funny asides. Someone mentioned the hilarious summer of speculation with a news helicopter chasing a black SUV on the highway because of a Kawhi rumor. The running joke about him wanting to plant trees in LA (a reference to a Clippers promo). And a bunch of people were annoyed that the video clip in the post previewed its own punchline a few seconds in, which is just a very Reddit thing to get sidetracked by.
So, bottom line: The thread isn’t really shocked by the revelation. It’s more a collective reminiscing about a magical, stressful, and ultimately perfect season. The attitude is less “how could he leave?” and more “thank god he came, even for just a year.” They got their ring, he got to go home, and everyone seems pretty at peace with how it all went down, even if his later career has been messy. The story in Toronto is complete, and it’s a good one.
