The Key To Kawhi Leonard Staying In Toronto Might Be Guys And Girls "Wearing Hats And Stuff"...Wait What?

All year everyone speculated what it would take to keep Kawhi north of the border. Was it a championship? Maybe a Finals appearance? Once the playoffs rolled around and Kawhi turned into a monster and hit the game winner against the Sixers there were some that thought a shot like that would convince Kawhi to stay. The city and fanbase has accepted him as a god and it’s a perfect situation for him to stay and compete atop the Eastern Conference. Who knew that it may come down to none of those things. It’s very possible that Kawhi is having a change of heart about the city and his future all because guys and girls are wearing hats and stuff.

If that’s really a factor, well shame on you Spurs fans. Where were your hats and stuff while Kawhi was there? Clearly that means a lot to him and it sounds like maybe he wasn’t getting that in his old city. It doesn’t surprise me that Kawhi may have changed his opinion of Toronto, I mean look at what they did after clinching their first trip to the Finals in franchise history

That city and fanbase celebrated as if they just won the title, as they should given their accomplishment. After they clinched their spot in the Finals I tweeted that even if TOR ends up getting swept this trade was worth it for them. They weren’t going anywhere with DeRozan/Lowry and their front office felt they were on the cusp of getting over the hump so they went for it. Absolutely a risky move given at the time nobody knew what Kawhi’s health would be, there were reports that he didn’t want to go to TOR and every talking head under the sun had him pegged for LA after this season.

But it’s funny what a difference 7ish months can make. It’s impossible to truly get a read on Kawhi because the man shows no emotion or gives the public any sort of inclination of what may be on his mind, so to hear this from him that his impression of Toronto has changed is gigantic. If I’m the Raptors and I hear that quote, I am finding a way to get every single resident of that city a hat or something with instructions that they are to wear it at all times. When you have a superstar player like Kawhi maybe starting to give serious thought to staying and part of that is the passion and the fans wearing team gear, you get everyone some team gear ASAP. Get a local business to sponsor it or something, you find a way to make sure wherever Kawhi goes he sees people in Raptors gear.

Maybe this was all bullshit and Kawhi just needed to say something to the media today, but I’m not sure his operating system knows how to lie yet so I’m going to take him at his word. I think everyone outside of Toronto pretty much accepted the fact that he’s out at the end of this season, but if we quickly take a look at every Raptors fan after hearing that quote

I would say it’s anything but a done deal as of now.