O’Connell: Kawhi Leonard Needs To Stay In Toronto To Be Considered Best In Basketball

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A new name has entered the never-ending conversation about the best player in the world.

BPITW doesn’t have the same ring to it as GOAT. Somebody please find a convenient and clever acronym for the best player in basketball in any given season. In 2019, Kawhi Leonard has shown an offensive prowess and ability to take over games that only a rare few possess at any level of basketball.

When added to his established reputation as an elite defensive stopper, and the fact that he is taking over games against the Golden State Warriors, it is impossible to have a discussion about who is the very best player in the league without mentioning the quiet young star.

What transpires over the next game or two will obviously be important in how firmly Leonard establishes himself. But perhaps even more important in defining his place as a member of the NBA glitterati is the decision Kawhi makes this coming offseason.

In order for Kawhi Leonard to firmly grab hold of Best Player in Basketball (B-PIB?) status, he must not leave Toronto in free-agency.

Stay Or Go?

If Leonard wins a championship with Toronto and stays, he’ll be crowned. Kawhi Leonard, First of His Name, King of North, Ruler of the Association and Protector of the Trophy. For now, at least, it will be decided and accepted that he stands alone atop the heap as the best of the best player in NBA basketball. But what if he wins a ring for Toronto, cracks a half-smile, and then leaves?

In that case, the consensus will not be so complete. Nor should it be. Because we do not attend the coronation of basketball kings who show us that priorities other than winning dictate their decisions. If Kawhi Leonard bolts for Southern California after not only reaching the pinnacle, but leading a team to those heights, he’ll be issuing a statement that winning and championships are not the priority we assumed they were.

Everything we have heard about him suggests that his pursuit of greatness is relentless. Everything we have seen in his career supports that. What he’s accomplished already in 2019 further bolsters the evidence that Kawhi Leonard is driven by a desire for true excellence and savage competitive drive. But if the Giant-Handed-One delivers an NBA championship to a franchise, city, and whole nation that have not experienced such bliss before he simply cannot walk away without criticism.

He’ll still be an All-Star, an MVP-caliber guy, but we’ll have to play wait-and-see before we talk about him as the best. He’ll have to deliver again, for the Clippers or whichever team lands him, he’ll have to prove it again.

You already know what today is.

It's @TangerineHoops Raptors Game Day!

Game 5 Preview » https://t.co/kEElG7Cnkb pic.twitter.com/KkbFHv3CE9

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 10, 2019

Loyalty Is Part Of Greatness

The Toronto Raptors were willing to trade away one of the best players in the history of their franchise to acquire Kawhi Leonard. They did not hesitate to make Kawhi the face of the Raptors even after his bizarre feud with San Antonio.

Management did their best to surround him with the supporting cast that he needed, and even fired an NBA Coach-of-the-Year in an effort to set him up for success! All of this has resulted in Toronto –and more importantly Kawhi himself- being a single win away from the absolute pinnacle of the sport. Walking away from that would send a message incongruous with the pursuit of true, absolute greatness. To prove that he is the best player in basketball, Kawhi Leonard not only needs to close out the Golden State Warriors, he needs to stay with the team that got him over the hump.

Why? Because loyalty is part of greatness. Kevin Durant jumped ship in OKC and joined a ready-built championship squad. He is rightfully punished for that in the court of public opinion. While he is certainly always on the short list of those considered to be best in the game, part of the reason we are reluctant to give KD the universal stamp of approval is because he is viewed as a bit of a mercenary.

A man with no country. Loyalty might not be the most important factor in judging a players place at the top, but it is an important piece of the puzzle when splitting hairs on who deserves to stand out from the other giants of NBA production.

Kawhi Leonard holds the future of at least one NBA franchise in his freakishly large hands. What he decides to do with it will be equally important for his own legacy as an NBA great. You can’t be an all-timer if you win it all, and then willingly leave it all behind for better weather.