🏀 Kawhi Returns To Much Love In Toronto

When the Clippers visit the Raptors on Wednesday night, there will be a lot of love in the building. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: Kawhi Leonard returns to Toronto, which still loves him ... check out the ranking of the 150 greatest college football coaches in history ... and Philip Rivers gets overly excited, right in someone’s ear. Kawhi Leonard loved and led and ultimately left Toronto, but when he returns on Wednesday night he will find that his former, brief home — and the reigning NBA champion franchise it supports — still loves him back. It is a unique kind of sporting affection that the Canadian city holds for Leonard, now of the Los Angeles Clippers and arguably the best player in basketball. It was a fleeting affair, one season only, Leonard upping sticks and moving on just 357 days after he landed north of the border. But what a season it was; a mind-twirling adventure that took the Raptors to their first and only NBA championship, sinking the Golden State Warriors dynasty in the process and riding Leonard’s brilliance to an outcome beyond their dreams. His appearance at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday will see him presented with his championship ring, the one he earned with a Finals performance that saw him claim the MVP award after leading Toronto in points, rebounds, steals and spirit. Boos? Don’t expect more than a handful — and if there are, they’ll be drowned out quickly. “I think the fans appreciate him, I think the organization appreciates him, I think what he did as a basketball player in winning a championship, it was great,” former teammate Kyle Lowry told The OC Register. “I think it’s going to be a good moment for him and I think he’s going to be really, really happy to get his ring.” There could have been some bitterness from the Toronto fan base, given the speed with which Leonard departed. His free agency decision was in many ways the catalyst for shaping what NBA would look like over the coming seasons, and the Clippers made the perfect pitch before agreeing to Leonard’s insistence on being paired with Paul George. [STORY IMAGE 1] Having lifted the Raptors to the top table of NBA relevance, his sudden exit seemed likely to return the club to the ranks of the hopefuls. Yet Toronto didn’t see it that way, going 16-7 to start this season; Leonard’s Clippers are currently 18-7. That heady window of last summer was a special time for the city, and the feelings towards Leonard and the class of 2018-19 will only ever be of gratitude. “It was a shotgun wedding to begin with,” Raptors fan Dahl Factor told me. “There wasn’t long enough in the relationship for any kind of bad blood to build up and Toronto loved the fact that Kawhi was a real guy who was all about the game, not the spotlight. “He came, he went, and he left us with enough memories to last a lifetime.” Leonard arrived in Toronto after falling out with the San Antonio Spurs over their handling of his right quadriceps injury, in a swap deal with Toronto’s team and city favorite DeMar DeRozan. His workload during the regular season was carefully managed, just as it is this season in Los Angeles. When the playoffs arrived, he erupted into life. It wasn’t that long ago. Toronto remembers. “I would imagine that our fans are going to give him an amazing ovation,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “If they give him 1/15th of what they gave us on opening night, it’s still going to be something.” Leonard is one of the most reluctant embracers of fame that basketball has, shunning the hoopla wherever possible. But he has not forgotten Toronto either and his sponsors New Balance this week unveiled a giant billboard celebrating the fact. At the corner of Yonge and Dundas in downtown, the sign has a clear and simple message: “Thank You Toronto.” [STORY IMAGE 2] For their part, the Raptors have [pieced together a tribute video]( that is both stirring and humorous. Local television station Rogers Sportsnet has advocated for a Leonard statue. Not all breakups need to be hard, I guess. Leonard and the Raptors should write the book on successful conscious uncoupling. The truth is, both sides are prospering without each other. Leonard, having teamed up with George after snubbing the Lakers, is at the helm of the team seen by many as the most likely to clinch the title this season. [According to]( [FiveThirtyEight]( the Clippers have a 37 percent shot at making the Finals and a 20 percent chance of winning it all. [FOX Bet]( rates them as the +300 favorites to become NBA champions. For Wednesday’s game, FOX Bet has the Clippers as the money line favorites to win, at -143. However, Toronto has shined also, in a way that few expected given the high-profile departure of their glittering light from last season. At 16-7, they are firmly in contention near the top of the Eastern Conference, while Pascal Siakam has blossomed into a star of genuine force. According to FOX Bet, the Raptors have a +700 chance to win the East and are at +2500 to retain the title, behind the Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, 76ers, Rockets and Nuggets. Wednesday will mark the last time the Raptors and Clippers are due to meet, but it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that they could square off again in June, with everything on the line. Leonard doesn’t smile a lot, but expect smiles all around on Wednesday. This won’t be an awkward reunion. Toronto’s title came right in the middle of the honeymoon period and then it was done. The Raptors and Leonard are former flames who enjoyed one special summer — and created history in the process. They’re happy to see each other again, because there is no reason not to be. [STORY IMAGE 3] Here’s what others have said ... Farbod Esnaashari, Forbes: “There is one big difference between Kawhi Leonard and every other superstar that’s requested to leave their team — Kawhi won. He is quite literally, the only person in NBA history to leave a team after winning Finals MVP the previous year. That’s what makes this return far more intriguing than most others a typical fan witnesses, it will be an actual historical moment.” Vivek Jacob, Yahoo Sports Canada: “The switching scheme Toronto has seen of late seems to correlate with opponents identifying that there isn’t a thoroughbred shot creator in 5-on-5 action outside of Pascal Siakam. Teams have been able to key in on the league’s Most Improved Player, and his hesitation seems to stem from wanting to keep the ball moving in anticipation of the double-team. They sit with soft-doubles, he waits, waits some more, and it’s disrupting both the rhythm of the team and his own flow.” Jack Maloney, CBS Sports: “Whatever the Raptors have planned for the game is sure to be even more special, but this was a fun look back at Leonard's time with the team, which is something no one in Toronto will ever forget. He may have only spent one season with the team, but he's cemented his place as a Raptors legend.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - A blue-ribbon panel of experts has selected the 150 greatest coaches in college football’s 150-year history. [You can read the full list at ESPN](. - [Ken Rosenthal at]( [The Athletic]( makes the case for the Indians to trade Francisco Lindor sooner rather than later. - It’s list season once again! [The Ringer]( [staff ranks their 41 favorite sports moments of 2019](. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Philip Rivers might be having a real up-and-down season with the Chargers, but one thing is for sure: he’s definitely brought us one of the funniest moments of the year with this mic’d up clip from San Diego’s game in Jacksonville on Sunday. After being pushed to the ground by Yannick Ngakoue in the middle of throwing a 90-yard touchdown, Rivers walked alongside the Jags defender while hollering at the top of his lungs (and into Ngakoue’s earhole) about his strong arm. In [the full clip posted to the Jaguars' official Twitter account]( Rivers later apologized for yelling so very loud, putting the cherry on top of his all-vanilla trash talk sundae. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto Raptors (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET) You may have heard about this one. Kawhi Leonard returns to the city he helped to its first-ever NBA championship. WWE NXT (USA Network, 8 p.m. ET) On paper, Wednesday night’s main event has the makings of a potential Match of the Year. Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Finn Bálor will meet in a Triple Threat Match to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship. New Orleans Pelicans at Milwaukee Bucks (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET) The Bucks are tied for the best record in basketball and will get a chance to strut their stuff on national television against a Pelicans team that has lost nine in a row. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Rockets (-11.5), Raptors (+2.5), Bulls (-4.5) all to cover: +600 Nick Wright’s Bet Boost for Wednesday is a three-team cover parlay that could serve up a huge return. The Rockets are on the road against the Cavaliers, who should be greatly overmatched in the game. The Bulls are at home against Atlanta, who are scoring an average of about nine points fewer than opponents this year. The Raptors-Clippers game should be a close one, but both teams are quite good this year, and the Raptors are more than capable of pulling off an upset. 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