It’s a good time to be a basketball fan in Canada: Kawhi Leonard is a Toronto Raptor. True, how he got here was not without controversy, but Leonard has proven to be an invaluable asset to the team, taking us to all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. In fact, the most optimistic of us say that for the first time in franchise history (that’s 24 whole years), we’re only two games away from making the NBA finals, all thanks to the man, the Klaw, the legend… Kawhi Leonard. And now the entire city — nay, country — want the star to remain on Canadian soil and are doing the most to keep him here. What, exactly? Let’s explore.
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Murals
First thing’s first, the OG way to pay tribute: murals. On one of Toronto’s busiest downtown streets, luxury consignment store OD Toronto immortalized number 2 in vinyl form on May 7, right before Game 5 of the conference semis.
Then, they took it all down only to replace it with the shot (you know, that game 7 buzzer beater against the Philadelphia 76ers that’s now gone down in history as a Canadian Heritage Moment? Yeah, that one).
#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/ntZXP2NgrM
— Andy (@_rallycap) May 13, 2019
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But that’s not all. Inside the shop, the now iconic after-the-shot moment is also memorialized in a vinyl mural. None other than Snoop Dogg took time out of his busy schedule to pose with our main guy.
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Free food
If fancy larger-than-life sized artwork isn’t Kawhi’s thing, then maybe free food for life is. With this initiative started by Raptors Republic, Leonard can eat for free (FOR LIFE) at any of the fine eateries displaying the Ka’wine and Dine sticker on their establishments. There’s one condition though — that he re-signs with Toronto.
Any hungry Kawhi lookalikes out there? It’s your time.
Free multi-million dollar penthouse
This one, for us regular folk, is what would probably entice one to stay in a city the most. Apparently, the CEO of The Condo Store Realty Inc is offering Leonard a multi-million-dollar penthouse if he stays with the team. That’s right, if Kawhi re-signs with the Toronto Raptors, Mass will let him choose between several luxury penthouses either at the Shangri-La, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons or St. Regis Apparently, each owner at the St. Regis is looked after by a personal butler, so the choice is pretty clear here, Kawhi. (Um, is it too late for us to grow 2 feet and become very, very skilled at the art of basketball?)
“We want to do what we can to ensure that our MVP stays in Toronto where he is loved and respected for being the ‘best of the best’ for the basketball-loving public of Toronto and Canada. We are throwing everything we have at The Condo Store to show Kawhi how much we appreciate his efforts to date and his future commitment to Canada’s only NBA franchise,” Mass told Narcity.
Too much? Not enough? Whatever you think, Playoff Kawhi has given us the best Toronto basketball we’ve had in years ever had. He’s made us hopeful — hopeful for a franchise record, hopeful for a championship and hopeful for a superstar to lead us there. And when you live in the city that’s home to the country’s only basketball team in the NBA, you gotta pull out all the stops to try to keep that hope alive, whether #hestay or not.
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