Serge Ibaka dishes on Kawhi Leonard on Inside the Green Room podcast

When the dust settled following the blockbuster trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs, Raptors fans were quick to acknowledge the strength of the superstar that Toronto got in return.

Kawhi Leonard hasn’t skipped a beat since putting on a Raptors red jersey, quickly reminding the NBA that he’s still one of its best players. And as the city of Toronto enjoys the team’s 12-3 start to the season, fans are eager to learn more about their new, mysterious franchise player.

Many had assumed Danny Green, who was sent to Toronto along with Leonard in the DeRozan trade, would be the best source for information on the former NBA Finals MVP. After all, he and Leonard had spent seven successful seasons running together with the Spurs before the two joined the Raptors.

But as we learned on the latest episode of the Inside the Green Room podcast — hosted by Danny Green and Harrison Sanford, in partnership with Yahoo Sports Canada — Raptors centre Serge Ibaka has emerged as a decent source of Kawhi intel.

“He’s got two nicknames, though,” Ibaka shares on the podcast. “One is ‘Cape Town,’ and one is ‘zombie … deadly’. ‘Deadly zombie!'”

“Yeah, he talks to Serge quite a bit,” says Green. “They have an interesting relationship, and it’s funny.”

The two try to respect Leonard’s privacy in the video above, but Ibaka does his best to explain why Kawhi remains such a mystery despite this being his eighth season in the NBA.

“People actually don’t know, he’s a very nice guy, man!” says Ibaka. “It’s just, when it’s time to work he just gets serious, you know? When it’s time to work, it’s time to work!”

But Kawhi isn’t all business, apparently, as Ibaka mentions that the former Spur has already tried to teach Serge the signature laugh that got so much attention when Leonard was introduced to the Toronto media.

Check out the podcast below and subscribe for more behind-the-scenes content on the Inside the Green Room podcast.

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Latest Episode

On the Episode 7, Danny and Harrison are joined by Raptors big man Serge Ibaka aka Mafuzzy Chef. They talk about Serge’s hit show “How Hungry Are You?”, his unique relationship with Kawhi, his resurgent play under Nick Nurse, giving back to his home country and the worst place he’s been asked for an autograph. Danny and Harrison also look back at the Raptors’ recent road trip, Pascal Siakam’s improved game and break down all the NBA drama, including the Warriors beef, Jimmy Butler and Carmelo Anthony.

Episode Guide

Episode 7: Serge Ibaka
Episode 6: Danny and Kawhi take the stage at media day
Episode 5: Live in Halifax
Episode 4: De’Aron Fox
Episode 3: Ryan Shazier, Matt Finkes & Andre Drummond
Episode 2: Michael Rapaport
Episode 1: Danny and Kawhi Get Traded

More Inside the Green Room on Yahoo Sports Canada: