Nothing was the same after Kawhi Leonard's unforgettable year with Raptors

Kawhi Leonard delivered more for the Toronto Raptors than anyone could have ever imagined, and still his departure felt like a disappointment.

No, he didn’t owe the city anything more, not after breaking a 26-year title drought and delivering a delirious five-hour parade. It was known when Leonard arrived that his heart was set on Los Angeles, but Masai Ujiri rolled the dice anyway. Even if it was for one year, Raptors fans deserved to see greatness. Even though it was only a fleeting glance, it was still unforgettable.

Leonard became modern day Michael Jordan in the playoffs and he did so in a Raptors uniform. The title celebration in the last game at Oracle Arena and the pull-up three over Joel Embiid to save the season — those were in the red and white city jerseys. The four-bounce dagger and the 53-minute double overtime act of sheer will, he wore the home whites. Those images will be tattooed forever onto the psyche of Raptors fans, because that’s what true greatness looks like.

He brought salvation to a cursed franchise that was doomed to second class status. When Leonard arrived, it was LeBronto. And before that, it was the franchise that couldn’t get out of the first round. Stretch back two decades, and it was just the comical Barney club that played in a baseball stadium full of excitable fans who didn’t know how to cheer. Fast forward to the night of June 14, and nobody had to be taught how to celebrate as downtown Toronto threw an impromptu block party until the sun shined golden in the morning like the Larry O’Brien trophy.

He made the Raptors relevant at last, put Toronto in the spotlight, and galvanized an entire nation like never before. It’s been said before but it bears repeating: Nearly half of all Canadians tuned in for the Finals, and one tenth of the country spilled into the streets of Toronto to partake in the celebrations. A country singularly focused on hockey finally embraced basketball, and that shift will have a lasting impact that will reverberate for decades. There was the Vince Carter effect, and Leonard’s legacy will live on in future generations in the same way.

Leonard brought validation for a team full of greats that had almost achieved greatness. Kyle Lowry, the most unfairly scrutinized playoff performer in recent memory, wore two dumfounded grins in the span of a month. First, after the Raptors closed out the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6, when the otherwise stoic Lowry melted into a smile as Scotiabank Arena chanted his name. Second, when it was all over in Game 6, where Lowry tucked the game ball under one arm and Leonard in the other, and wore the face of a child on Christmas morning. That gold ball, as Lowry called it, cemented his legacy as the greatest Raptor of all time.

He ushered in the culture change the Raptors so badly needed. If Ujiri were a preacher, then Leonard was God, and winning was the religion. Toronto, a world class city by every measure, needed to get over its inferiority complex, to shake this shadow that doom was always around the corner, and it took a perfect confluence of personalities to rid that for good. Ujiri was true to his word that the Raptors would win, and only a player as aloof as Leonard could resist the negativity of this city. It was always about more than winning for Ujiri — it was about changing the mindset of this fanbase into that of winners, and that feeling should never be surrendered regardless of what comes next.

So what does come next? That’s for Raptors fans to decide. Mourning would be otherwise appropriate, but that’s unbecoming for a champion. There will be an urge from outsiders to cast a pall over the season to come; they will want to label it as a championship hangover, but that decision rests on the fans themselves. No, it won’t feel right to raise a banner without the reigning Finals MVP present, and there will be no title defense, at least not in earnest, without Leonard. But that shouldn’t detract from the legacy of this title.

It should be remembered as a lesson in how hard it is to win. For so long, Toronto wasn’t taken seriously as a basketball destination by American players worried about the wrong things (frivolities like cable packages, bank accounts, and the metric system), until it finally was. DeMar DeRozan paved the way for that, and the Raptors had to ultimately trade their soul just for a chance at greatness. The same can be said of Dwane Casey for Nick Nurse, Jonas Valanciunas and Marc Gasol, or even Terrence Ross and Serge Ibaka. The sheer human cost that went into just winning this one title is reason alone to always celebrate this ring to its fullest.

There will always be a “what if” associated with this moment. Signing a superstar in his prime could have ushered in a dynasty in the north. Toronto had a budding star in Pascal Siakam, who just paired with Leonard to equal the highest playoff scoring total ever amassed by Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and a wealth of cap room next summer. There’s a looming chase for Giannis Antetokounmpo on the horizon, and the East was there for the taking. That will always sting, but life goes on.

Nothing lasts forever, especially in sports. That’s what memories are for, and why trophies are cast in gold. Leonard did his job, and then went home, which was his right. But in the process, he changed everything for this franchise, made Toronto champions, and Raptors fans should forever be grateful of that.

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