Back in Toronto, Kawhi Leonard wants to focus on basketball and chase another ring as a Raptor

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.

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.”

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.”

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett speaks at the Raptors media day in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard speaks at the Raptors media day in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic speaks at the Raptors media day in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes speaks at the Raptors media day in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard speaks at the Raptors media day in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — LeBron James took his seat and fidgeted with a microphone before he tossed his identification placard on the ground.

“You guys know who I am, right?” James asked.

Sure do. No introduction needed.

LeBron James, the most famous basketball player in the world and the NBA's career scoring leader, was indeed in a No. 23 Philadelphia 76ers jersey. He's happy to play for the Sixers, happy to play with close friend and fellow All-Star Tyrese Maxey and happy to start a 24th NBA season — with no promises of how long his career is going to last.

He's sure not in Philadelphia to lose.

“I didn't leave my family,” James said Monday, “to lose in the second round.”

James, Maxey, Joel Embiid and the other new star Sixers player, Jaylen Brown, were all on hand for media day ahead of the start of training camp and what figures to be the most anticipated season in Philly since Julius Erving's heyday.

James is the undisputed star the show.

The usual assortment of beat writers and bloggers were dwarfed inside the Sixers' complex in New Jersey by cameras and questions from media entities far beyond the NBA scope. James, naturally, handled himself like a true professional, used to the global spotlight since he was put on a basketball pedestal as a teenager.

“Understand that the noise is going to be the noise,” James said. “What happens outside of this building is going to consistently happen, and it's going to be doubled and triple and quadrupled down on you. It just comes with the territory. I understand it.”

Much as James did for Cleveland when he ended a 56-year championship drought for the city by leading the Cavaliers to the title in 2016, he's in Philadelphia largely to help snap a championship drought for the Sixers that stretches to 1983.

“I think the luxury of my game is, I can do everything,” James said. “Literally, I can do everything.”

The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the eventual champion New York Knicks.

Enter a summer makeover anchored by James' arrival.

The 41-year-old James signed a modest $8 million, two-year contract on the veterans’ minimum with the Sixers.

James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP and a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

He also is coming off a season in which he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he has averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.

“Him being here is really cool,” Maxey said.

With key members of Sixers ownership and the front office watching from the side, James declined to get into the issue of how much longer he wants to play. His lone focus, he said, was learning how to play with new teammates — most, like Embiid, haven't won a title — and trying to bring the championship mentality he knows so well from winning titles with the Cavaliers, Heat and the Lakers to the Sixers.

“I hope that I can, you know, bring that experience, bring that knowledge, bring the blueprint to the guys that's trying to accomplish some things that they haven't done in their career,” James said. “I've seen everything that this league has to offer on the floor and off the floor, so I hope that every single day with my approach to the game, approach to the work, that it can translate to every single guy."

James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two NBA titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, including that title run in 2016, and left in 2018 for the Lakers. He won a title in LA in 2020.

He also won't set a timetable on how many years he has left in his career.

“I don't want to speak on the future right now,” James said. “I think that would be doing a disservice to myself on just living in the moment, especially knowing that I am where I am in my career.”

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Philadelphia 76ers' LeBron James poses for photos during the NBA basketball team's media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Camden, N.J.. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe *left to right pose for photos during the NBA basketball team's media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Camden, N.J.. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' LeBron James, center right, greats VJ Edgecombe, right, as they get ready for a group photos with Tyrese Maxey, center left, and Jaylen Brown, left, during the NBA basketball team's media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Camden, N.J.. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' LeBron James reacts as he goes between stations during the NBA basketball team's media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Camden, N.J.. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Friday, April 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh, File)