Kawhi Leonard thanked Toronto fans in his first public comments since leaving the Raptors earlier this month and signing with the Los Angeles Clippers.“I don’t have social media so I’m not able to put out a paragraph or whatever,” Leonard said Wednesday at a news conference where he was introduced to the Los Angeles media.“Thank (you) Toronto. The city, the country, it was a great amazing season. Best parade ever. Thanks to their doctors for delivering my baby boy (in the spring). I also just want to thank the city — as far as the restaurants, the Kawhi-and-dine, took advantage of that. “The players, they already know what’s up. But now I’m on my next journey. These guys, I think we got a great future. Paul (George) is player I always wanted to play with.”Leonard, the two-time NBA Finals MVP who led Toronto to its first league championship last month, had been silent since agreeing to go home and join the Clippers. He cited Doc Rivers, the Clippers’ head coach, as one of the driving factors to joining Los Angeles. “Doc being a championship head coach. That’s something I wanted. An experienced coach,” Leonard said. Leonard pushed himself into the conversation as the NBA’s best player after a dominant post-season with the Raptors this past spring. Read more:Stalking Kawhi was a bit much, TorontoNBA begins inquiry amid allegations Uncle Dennis asked for perks violating salary cap rulesBasketball fans across the NBA were on pins and needles while waiting for Leonard to decide during free agency which team he would sign with, leading to a frenzy of speculation. “A lot of things are made up now in today’s NBA,” Leonard said. “You can start a blog . . . and say Kawhi’s doing that, Kawhi’s doing this. Once we had our meeting (with Clippers), nothing really got out (to the public).”The Clippers pulled off a blockbuster move by acquiring Paul ...
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