Tag: NBA

TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard acknowledged how long it took to complete the trade that sent him back to Toronto, but didn’t want to talk about why.

“I know why some of you guys came,” Leonard said in an opening statement to a crowded media conference. “You want to hear about the investigation. Talking with the NBA and the (National Basketball Players Association), I think the best decision is to move forward and focus on my time being a Toronto Raptor. I already was a distraction for the past 70 days and wasn’t able to meet my teammates, do any of that minicamp stuff with them. Moving forward, I just want to talk about the Toronto Raptors. … I just want to focus on basketball again.”

The 35-year-old Leonard spent one season in Toronto after he was acquired from San Antonio in 2018, winning his second NBA Finals MVP and leading the Raptors to their lone title in 2019.

“He’s a proven winner and he’s done it here,” Raptors forward RJ Barrett said.

Leonard left Toronto after that title to head home and sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. The end of his tenure there was overshadowed by a salary-cap circumvention scandal that led to massive sanctions against his now-former team.

KAWHI + SCOTTIE. THAT’S THE POST! pic.twitter.com/7NmKBvkbPK

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) September 28, 2026

The investigation into that scandal also delayed the deal, completed earlier this month, that sent the seven-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion back north of the border.

Last week, Leonard agreed on a two-year contract extension with Toronto that could be worth $115 million if he plays both seasons, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

Monday’s media day, held in a lounge atop a lakefront hotel, overlooked the spot where the championship parade got rolling a few days after Toronto’s six-game triumph over the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals.

The Raptors have just one playoff series victory since, a first-round sweep of the Nets in the 2020 COVID-19 postseason bubble.

Still, Leonard said he likes his chances with this Toronto team, featuring two-time All-Star Scottie Barnes, which pushed Cleveland to seven games in a first-round defeat last spring.

“I’m excited to be back,” Leonard said. “The team played amazing last year. I like to be in a winning environment and I think they give me that here.”

WELCOME BACK TO TORONTO, KAWHI 🦖 pic.twitter.com/4oLZbZpboQ

— NBA (@NBA) September 28, 2026

Limited to nine games because of injury in 2017-18, Leonard played 60 regular-season games for Toronto in 2018-19, and another 24 in the playoffs. He hasn’t topped that total since, and missed an entire season after right knee surgery in 2021.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic said the Raptors “know what we’re walking into” when it comes to keeping their new star healthy.

“To be honest with you, I want Kawhi to play 82 games and 48 minutes every night,” Rajakovic said. “But the reality is, his age and his history with injuries, we’ve got to be super smart there.”

Alex McKechnie, the Raptors’ vice president of player health and performance, still leads the training staff that kept Leonard on the court throughout the championship run of 2018-19.

“I played 65 (games) last year,” Leonard said. “Hopefully this year I can play more and even build on that, adding games in the playoffs.”

Leonard is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points.

“Especially off the season that he just had, I think everybody is very confident in his ability to be that kind of superstar that he is,” Barrett said. “I think he’s a Hall of Fame player.”

Leonard is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, while Barnes said Monday that it “felt kind of disrespectful” he wasn’t named to the All-Defensive first team last season.

With Leonard playing alongside him this season, Barnes promised trouble for opposing attackers.

“We can be real dangerous on that end of the floor,” Barnes said. “We’ve got guys that move their feet really well, pick it up full court. It’s starting from 94 feet throughout the whole game. I think it’s going to be real scary.”

The last time the New York Knicks started the season as defending NBA champions, they held their training camp in New Jersey at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University).

That 1972-73 team brought back 13 players from the title run, and if you recall having watched any of them play – from Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley to John Gianelli, Harthorne Wingo and Dean Meminger – you likely are older now than their coach was back then (Red Holzman, 52).

Continuity traditionally is king for NBA champs, including the 2026-27 edition of the Knicks. Eleven of last season’s Top 12 rotation players (in average minutes) are back, an encouraging sign for a team that gelled at the right time last spring. New York tore through Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland with a 12-2 mark through its first three playoff rounds.

Then, improbably, it fell behind by double digits in all five Finals games against San Antonio yet took the series 4-1 to end the franchise’s 53-year drought between championships. The Knicks got outscored by a cumulative 57 points in the first quarters, won the series overall by a mere 12 points and led for only 56:34 of the total 240 minutes.

“What we accomplished was amazing,” coach Mike Brown told reporters Monday at Media Day. “[But] it’s a new season and a new team and we’re going to face new challenges over the course of the year. We’re going to hit adversity … and we’re going to embrace it.”

The @nbafinalstrophy making an appearance at @nyknicks Media Day 🏆 https://t.co/Po9LU58VbL

— NBA (@NBA) September 28, 2026

Center Karl-Anthony Towns, from adjoining New Jersey, said: “Of course winning your first championship is so special. A lot of people never even get to see one happen. To not only win a championship but to do it with a team that I grew up a big fan of, and show my love publicly for it so much, it’s really very special. And to have my family, my grandmother and my father and my sister and now my wife there was really special.”

The flip side of continuity is change, and some of that already has visited the Knicks. Center Mitchell Robinson, so vital to the defense with his rim protection and a second-chance wizard via his offensive rebounding, signed with Boston as a free agent.

It’s inevitable, too, that emotions, attitudes, motivations and more will be different for the players and coaches, having checked a box on their resumes that purportedly looms large for so many in the NBA. Even if they fend off injuries and complacency, becoming the hunted might be tougher than staying the hunter.

After all, Giannis Antetokounmpo painted a target on the Knicks’ backs in his media sessions Monday as a member of the Miami Heat.

“So right now, the best team in the NBA is the New York Knicks,” Antetokounmpo said. “And they have one of the best players, Jalen Brunson.”

Wing Josh Hart made it clear to the assembled media that he and his teammates aren’t interested in one-and-done, continuing the NBA’s active streak of eight different champs in eight years.

“I think we’re all excited for the opportunity to do it again,” Hart said. “I think you guys will see that with how we conduct ourselves and how we play, that we’re not satisfied with one.”

Here are some other takeaways from the Knicks’ initial business of 2026-27 at their Westchester practice facility.

1. Brunson fully cleared to play

Jalen Brunson undoubtedly heard a few “Break a leg” wishes as he prepped for his weekend appearance as the guest host of “Saturday Night Live.” But it was the state of Brunson’s wrist that was the focus of Knicks fans’ attention.

The point guard’s left wrist, on which he had surgery in July, is fine for the coming rigors of camp and the season. Brunson earned the Finals MVP award after averaging 28.4 points in the playoffs and scoring 45 in the Game 5 clincher in San Antonio. The left-handed shooter had played through discomfort during the Knicks’ run.

“It was painful,” Brunson said. “I did what I had to do to make sure I was right. … I feel good. We’ll see.”

Asked how this triumphant offseason played out for him, Brunson said: “It was the longest, shortest summer ever, but it was well worth it.”

“It was the longest, shortest summer ever, but it was well worth it.”

– Jalen Brunson pic.twitter.com/Ll5kRQLfwd

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) September 28, 2026

2. No extension yet for KAT

Towns is eligible to sign a contract extension worth as much as $272 million over five seasons, but the player and his reps haven’t come to terms with the team. Asked about the current impasse Monday, Towns said: “I’ve made it known that I want to play here. I’d like to get it done.”

He also indicated that letting negotiations linger into the season might be distracting. “I think in this situation there’s no [comfort] to be had,” he said.

Josh Hart and Miles McBride also are eagerly awaiting extensions. One factor that could be complicating the process: Brunson in July 2024 signed a four-year, below-market $156.5 million deal that ranks as a bargain now but enabled the front office to make personnel moves thanks to payroll flexibility. Paying the price now for a title team could limit the Knicks’ maneuverability.

3. No Mitchell, no problem?

In his healthiest season in three years, Robinson was a force for New York from start to finish. He averaged 4.2 offensive rebounds and made 72.3% of his field-goal attempts. Per 36 minutes played, he averaged 16.1 rebounds overall and 7.7 on the offensive end.

But money propelled him to sign with the Celtics, boosting an East rival even as the Knicks lost the services of the 28-year-old 7-footer. Boston gave Robinson a three-year, $47 million deal.

“That’s my guy,” Brunson said. “It’s definitely difficult, but you love to see someone [get] generational wealth.”

Towns said he was surprised to see Robinson leave. But he referred to veteran replacement Andre Drummond as “one of the best rebounders of our generation” and “someone I’ve been a fan of.” Drummond, 33, averaged 5.8 offensive boards per 36 minutes last season backing up Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.

Other players joining this year’s Knicks squad on short-term deals include John Konchar, Bruce Brown, Drew Eubanks, Ochai Ogbagi and James Wiseman.

4. Rundown of Brown’s second acts

For anyone hoping to learn from history, Brown’s four previous head coaching stints offer a mixed bag of outcomes in Year 2. He followed up his 50-32 record in 2005-2006, his debut season with Cleveland, by repeating that record and leading the Cavaliers to the 2007 Finals.

With the Lakers in 2011-12, Brown coached them to a 41-25 mark in the post-lockout season. But he lasted only five games, to 1-4, before being fired the next fall.

Back in Cleveland for 2013-14, Brown didn’t get a second chance, getting fired after the Cavs went 33-49. That’s when the team hired European coach David Blatt, then had LeBron James make his surprising return to the franchise.

Brown started hot in Sacramento, guiding the Kings to a 48-34 finish and their first playoff appearance in 17 years. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for that performance. The following season, Sacramento won just two fewer games but missed the postseason.

Said Brown of this title defense: “Keeping your core is always something that’s exciting, especially when that core has had success. But we have to understand this is a new season, new team and we’re going to face new challenges.”

5. Knicks go ‘lights out’ on Day 1

Josh Hart answers a question in the dark at Knicks Media Day.

It had nothing to do with style of play or a review. The power literally went out at the practice facility during Media Day, with Hart finishing one answer in the dark.

* * *

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry is committed to keeping some of the reliable, familiar faces around him on the Golden State Warriors for the stretch run of his career.

So, Curry took a pay cut to stay put. At 38, he wants to win now, and add another title to his list before he finishes – and finishes right where it all began as a doubted, undersized point guard – with the Warriors.

That’s the plan, to be sure.

“Yes, I was presented the max,” Curry said Monday at media day, “yes, there was everything on the table.”

On Friday, the 38-year-old Curry received a two-year contract extension worth $116 million – $20 million less than the maximum he could have commanded.

“It was a very, kind of, thoughtful journey, partnership of putting all the different scenarios out there. It was of interest of making sure I was here, figuring out what was in the best setup for me, for the team, for the now, for the flexibility the rest of my career,” Curry said.

“So trying to balance all of that is such a unique situation with all of the circumstances of where we’ve been the last four years, what’s currently on the table and where we’re trying to go to be competitive and give ourselves a chance.”

18th Media Day VIBES for Wardell Stephen Curry II! pic.twitter.com/4mg2MCZw6G

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) September 28, 2026

Curry is eager to get going at training camp. The Warriors were flying to Hawaii later Monday to hold their first practice session Tuesday. Their first preseason game is Sunday against the Clippers at the University of Hawaii campus in Honolulu. Veteran center Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue.

While Golden State missed out on LeBron James in the free-agency sweepstakes, Curry is headed into his 18th NBA season determined to do what he can to make the Warriors a contender again in the talented Western Conference after last season’s latest miss.

That started with his flexibility on the contract.

“We found a middle ground where he was incredibly generous in taking this deal, where he’s taking less money to help the team out because, as Steph goes, he’s as competitive as there is,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “He wants to win. He’s put us in a position where it gives us a little bit more flexibility to do that. So I think the middle ground was signing him up to be able to almost ensure that he’ll finish his career here while also keeping some flexibility, keeping some optionality on it, and we’ve done that.”

Last season was derailed by the loss of Jimmy Butler to a season-ending right knee injury Jan. 19 against his former Heat team that required surgery. The Warriors lost Moses Moody, too, and both guards are expected back at some point. They have progressed to very light on-court workouts and will travel with the team to Hawaii.

Butler would love to see Curry play his entire career wearing No. 30 for Golden State.

“It’s very hard to do, but it just shows how great he is, the great things that he’s done in this community, obviously for this organization, and just how beloved he is by the world, actually,” Butler said. “I see it firsthand now being his teammate.”

With his teammates long admiring his humility just as much as his dazzling shot-making from way, way back, Curry has always been about winning and not his own lofty accolades and numbers. The two-time MVP and all-time 3-point leader has embraced playing alongside star teammates such as Butler, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

“Because he’s extended this window for himself, he’s extended the window for the team, and we’re going to continue to build it because of him,” Dunleavy said.

Curry has plenty to prove after a lingering right knee injury that kept him out of 27 straight games and more than two months down the stretch. Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals while playing 30.9 minutes but was limited to only 43 games last season.

“It’s great to get him re-signed,” said coach Steve Kerr, who decided in May to return on a two-year deal. “We never doubted it for a minute.”

Neither did Curry himself.

“This is home, this is what we’ve built, this is the community that I’ve played in front of my entire career and being able to finish the story the right way is a big part of, I think, what I control, thankfully, hopefully health-wise as well,” he said. “I know the list, a short list of guys that have been able to do it, but reimagining what that looks like with the level that I feel like I can play at down the stretch of my career.

“There’s a pride of representing the Bay, representing this franchise, that when I stepped foot here in ‘09 and what we’ve all been able to accomplish, this isn’t just a ‘me’ thing, it’s a ‘we.’ I want to do right by that.”