Nick Nurse: Kawhi Leonard Was Raptors' 'Funniest' Player During Title Run
June 20, 2019
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is here to vouch for Kawhi Leonard as a fun guy.
Appearing on The Lowe Post podcast with ESPN's Zach Lowe on Tuesday, Nurse labeled Leonard as "the funniest guy" (h/t Vivek Jacob of Yahoo Canada Sports):
"I think this thing about him not saying things and being so quiet is almost played out. He was unbelievable yesterday at the parade [with his] speech, absolutely stole the show. He does that constantly. He's the funniest guy in the film room because he waits and delivers the knockout punch line.
"He's coachable, he talks to me a lot during the games about the games, in the huddles, in the film room—he talks a lot, we've probably misread him a bit in that way."
At the Raptors' first-ever championship parade Monday, Leonard mocked his own laugh that went viral at Toronto's media day ahead of the season:
Perhaps Nurse's best evidence was this story: As the 51-year-old first-year head coach was trying to convey a teaching moment to Toronto following a Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals by comparing his current team's situation to his former D-League team, Leonard interrupted.
"In the D-League?" the two-time NBA Finals MVP said. "I'm done listening to this story."
Leonard's historic performance throughout the 2019 postseason solidified him as one of the league's biggest stars. Anytime he does talk from now on, everybody will be listening.