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SPORTS Wednesday 19 June 2019
Leonard quiet on future as Raptors celebrate with parade

By IAN HARRISON obvious success, Leonard tain futures. Center Marc
Associated Press said he has enjoyed all as- Gasol also has a player
TORONTO (AP) — Fresh off pects of his season north of option, while guard Danny
leading the Toronto Rap- the border, even the varied Green is a free agent.
tors to their first NBA title, Canadian weather. Guards Kyle Lowry and
Kawhi Leonard received “It was a good experience, Fred VanVleet and forward
the key to the city at Mon- experiencing Mother Na- Serge Ibaka are heading
day’s championship pa- ture, all four seasons,” he into the final year of their
rade and rally. For now, said. “Man, it was a great contracts. Ibaka and Leon-
however, the two-way star experience. Everybody off ard have become friends
and two-time NBA Finals the court was great. The in their time together as
MVP isn’t saying whether fans, just meeting people in teammates. “I’ve been
he’ll use it to keep a door Canada. It’s been fun.” talking with him a lot dur-
open or close it behind him Fans chanted “Stay! Stay! ing the season and in the
and move on. Stay!” when Toronto Mayor playoffs, but after we won,
Leonard spent several John Tory presented Leon- I can see the man is hap-
days partying with his Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard hoists the MVP ard with the key. py,” Ibaka said. “That’s the
teammates in Las Vegas trophy next to teammates during the team’s NBA basketball Later, the festive mood of most important. We play
and Los Angeles after last championship parade in Toronto, Monday, June 17, 2019. the event was marred by this sport because we want
Thursday’s Game 6 clinch- Associated Press gunfire. Four people were to enjoy and have fun and
er over Golden State, re- he said. “You know, knee played 60 regular-season shot, leading to a stam- be happy and be some-
turning to Toronto in time to pains, ankles, fingers. Ev- games for Toronto and 24 pede. Three people were where people love you. I’m
ride in one of five open-top erybody was just grinding it more in the postseason, up- arrested and two guns sure he feels that people
double-decker buses that out.”Injured for all but nine ping his minutes once April were recovered, police here love him, and after this
carried the Raptors along games in his final season arrived. While winning the said.Leonard is one of three moment, that’s the most
a crowded parade route. with San Antonio, Leonard Larry O’Brien Trophy was an Raptors starters with uncer- important.”q
A three-time All-Star and
two-time NBA defensive
player of the year, Leonard
is expected to decline the
player option on the final
year of his contract and
become a free agent. To-
ronto can offer him a five-
year deal worth around
$190 million, one year and
some $50 million more than
any other team.
Before stepping on stage
Monday for a ceremony in
the square outside Toron-
to’s City Hall, Leonard said
he hasn’t been thinking
about his future. Instead,
he’s trying to extend the
celebratory vibe as long as
possible. “I’m enjoying this”
he said. “It’s not time to
stress, it’s still time to have
some fun. I’ve just been
enjoying my experience.”
After two months of play-
off basketball, Leonard
doesn’t have a lot of time
left to be a fun guy — free
agency gets underway at
6 p.m. Eastern on June 30.
“I’m going to take the right
time,” he said. “You don’t
need too many days to fig-
ure it out. We’ll see what
happens. Once that time
comes, then we’ll all lay
the pros and cons out.”
Visibly bothered by sore-
ness during stretches of the
Eastern Conference Finals
against Milwaukee, Leon-
ard declined to say how
much pain he endured en
route to winning his second
career title. “We’re always
battling through things,”