Kawhi Leonard shuts down investigation talk in Raptors return

There was a rather large elephant waiting for Kawhi Leonard at Raptors Media Day.

So Leonard dealt with it before anyone could ask.

“I know why some of you guys came,” Leonard told reporters Monday, via Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “You want to hear about the investigation.”

Yes. Yes, they did. After all, Leonard’s final months with the Clippers became one of the NBA’s biggest stories after the league investigated salary-cap circumvention involving outside endorsement deals.

The NBA ultimately hammered Los Angeles, taking away five first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine and suspending owner Steve Ballmer for a year. Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000.

His trade back to Toronto was delayed along the way. Leonard would rather leave all of that in Los Angeles.

“Talking with the NBA and the PA, I think the best decision is to move forward and focus on my time being a Toronto Raptor,” he said. “I already was a distraction for the past 70 days.”

That’s probably not going to make every question disappear.

But it is very Kawhi. Say what needs to be said. Say as little of it as possible. Then get back to basketball.

And there is plenty of basketball to discuss. Leonard is back with the franchise he led to its only championship in 2019, joining Scottie Barnes and a Raptors team that took the Cavaliers to seven games in the first round last season.

“I like to be in a winning environment,” Leonard said, via The Canadian Press. “And I think they give me that here.”

The investigation is over. The penalties have been handed down. Kawhi is back in Toronto.

Apparently, that’s all Kawhi intends to say about the first two.