OAKLAND, Calif.—It’s been hard to get to the essence of Kawhi Leonard since he arrived in our midst because he is a private man not given to comfortable interaction or idle conversations with those that he does not spend time with, and that’s fine.It is the way Leonard is. It became apparent from the first introduction, and all he owes anyone is to play his hardest for the Toronto Raptors and conduct himself as a professional, and he has more than done that since his September arrival.But in the last 48 hours, punctuated by the gruesome injury suffered by Golden State’s Kevin Durant in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Leonard has shown more of himself than at any time over the last nine months, opening up some deeply held feelings.He has this genuine love and joy for the game he plays, a gratitude that he is able to once again perform to a level that few will ever attain. Once robbed of that for almost a year, he never wants to let it go.The money? It’s unquestionably nice because it allows him to take care of his family for this generation and many to come without much concern. The fame? It matters not a lick to him, that’s obvious by way he conducts himself around the team and the league and the fans. The game? The game is the thing.And one only had to hear him talk about Durant and what the Warriors star is going through — and what Leonard went through missing all but nine games of the 2107-18 season — to understand that. He showed the depth of concern he has for a fellow star athlete who faces months of not being able to just play the game.“I’ve been in that situation before,” Leonard said in the hours after Durant blew out his right Achilles tendon on a nondescript play in Golden State’s 106-105 Game 5 victory. “I hope he has a speedy recovery, and just gets healthy, and I hope that he’s going to be OK mentally, just throughout the whole rehab process because, like I said before, w ...
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