The Toronto Raptors were already regular season killers before Kawhi Leonard arrived this summer. The Raptors going 6-0 to start the season with a healthy and dominant Leonard isn’t that big of a surprise — Leonard’s value will be measured when the playoffs arrive, as the former NBA Finals MVP tries to get Toronto past its history of early flame-outs. Now the Raptors are 6-1, but the undefeated shine isn’t yet off Leonard, who didn’t play in the loss to the (also undefeated) Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. (Leonard is so far sitting out the second game of back-to-backs: he also missed one of the Raptors victories — against Washington on October 20.)
[Kawhi Leonard best-selling Toronto Raptors jersey can’t lose]
Because of the strange way Leonard finished his Spurs career, missing the last 38 games of the season, the superstar has not lost a professional basketball game since 2017. In his checkered 2017-2018 season with the Spurs, Leonard missed the first 27 games, played in 9 out of a 17-game stretch around midseason, and then missed the final 38 as rumor and speculation swirled around him. As usual, Leonard said very little about any of it, allowing the rumors to grow and loom. That midseason stretch where Leonard played saw just three games in January, all victories — over the Knicks (Leonard 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals), Suns and Nuggets. Then he stopped playing until this fall when as a Raptor he looks as great as he ever has. And very undefeated too. Kawhi Leonard very rarely loses.
