The legend of Kawhi Leonard and how he’s a man of few words to go along with a weird laugh continues to grow.
ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan wrote a long feature about how superstars run the NBA, and it started with a tale about where Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse was when he heard Leonard was leaving the franchise he led to a ring and going back to his native California to join the Clippers. Nurse, we knew from previous information, was in Las Vegas, watching a Prince impersonator and got a text message from Leonard.
The details we didn’t know until now: Raptors assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren was with him and the words in that text message:
The two young coaches, still immersed in their championship stupor, bumped fists, then crooned in unison, “I never want to cause you any sorrow … I never want to cause you any pain … I only wanted to see you laughing … in the purple rain.”
It was too loud to hear their phones as the song hit its crescendo, but both Nurse and Bjorkgren had their cells on vibrate. Instinctively, they reached for their pockets, as manufactured purple haze from the Vegas extravaganza swallowed them.
Nurse looked down. The text message simply read, “I’m going home.”
I was really hoping it was going to be “WHAT IT DO BAYBEEEE!”
