Toronto Raptors fans gathered on Monday to celebrate their team winning an NBA title, and many of them took the opportunity to plead with Kawhi Leonard to stick around next season. Kyle Lowry was happy to egg them on, too.
At one point during the championship parade, Raptors fans began chanting “one more year!” at Leonard. The NBA Finals MVP could only awkwardly smile, and he looked even more uncomfortable when Lowry upped the stakes.
Crowd to Kawhi: ONE MORE YEAR
Kyle Lowry to crowd: FIVE MORE YEARS pic.twitter.com/rYImiYzVTv
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) June 17, 2019
Lowry has said previously that he would never try to convince Leonard to stay and he knows Kawhi will do what’s best for him and his family, but it’s hard to not get swept up in things on parade day.
Of course, fans are already trying to draw conclusions based on the way Leonard and those around him reacted. The guy in the white hat and shirt behind Lowry holding up five fingers was Kawhi’s uncle and business manager, Dennis Robertson. Was he saying he is on board with that? Time will tell.
The Raptors may be the front-runner to re-sign Leonard at the moment, but there have been plenty of indications that he plans to leave. At the end of the day, the decision is up to him. The season he just had in Toronto has to give the Raptors more of an edge than they may have had before winning it all.
