Welcome to the season of Kawhi. Kawhi Leonard looks like an apex predator, because he is one. His shoulders are almost comically broad, in both the amusing and comic-book sense; he has a low centre of gravity and that seven-foot-three wingspan, with arms that stretch to the swooping death of those giant, quick, enveloping hands. Later, you see the quick feet, the skill and the blank-faced hunger. Predator, all the way.“You don’t see many Mack trucks that move like Ferraris,” says Toronto Raptors teammate Danny Green, before a season-opening 116-104 win over the post-LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers. “Kawhi’s just so naturally gifted with what he’s given to make life harder for you, with his length, his arms, his hands. He takes up so much space and can recover so fast with that length, he makes you uncomfortable dribbling the ball.“It’s hard to do it at both ends of the floor. Obviously he’s great at both ends of the floor, but it’s hard to be as passionate at that end as he was when he started because he takes such a heavy load at the offensive end of the floor.“But he still does it.”Read more:Game centre: Leonard double-double helps Raptors take season opener over CavsWhat makes Kawhi Leonard one of the top five players in the NBA?Bruce Arthur: The Raptors’ puzzle is closer to completion with a true superstar on the roster this seasonBut even apex predators can look rusty, if they’re out of practice, and ecosystems can take time to adjust. In Leonard’s first NBA game since January, you could see signs of disuse: easy shots that dove or clanged. There were moments of hesitation, and he stuck to screens on defence, sometimes.The Toronto crowd roared when he was introduced last in the starting lineup — he wants to be great, historically great, so of course he was introduced after Kyle Lowry — and cheered again the first few times he touched the ball. So he wasn&# ...
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