Especially after Kawhi Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA Finals — whether or not they take down the defending champ Warriors — fans want him to stick around and sign a longterm contract in free agency this summer.
Leonard isn’t exactly the most loquacious player, and even if he were, he almost certainly wouldn’t be talking about his future right now in the middle of the finals with his team taking a 2-1 lead Wednesday.
But that didn’t stop one Raptors fan from already offering up a bribe to the small forward. And that fan happens to be one of the most popular IndyCar Series drivers, James Hinchcliffe.
The Canadian driver is from the Toronto area, and he’s joining the campaign to convince Leonard to stick around.
“They started this whole campaign at home about keeping Kawhi in town,” Hinchcliffe told NBCSports.com. “There are talks he might be going somewhere. That has always been our big Achilles’ heel as a team. We get these talented players and they only stay for a couple years until they get picked up by a more established club.
“A lot of people are trying to keep Kawhi with the Raps. There are restaurants in Toronto promising free food for life. Free services here, there, wherever.”
And what is Hinchcliffe offering the NBA All-Star?
“I was going to offer that I’ll put a picture on my helmet and offer him two free passes to any IndyCar race I’m competing in for the rest of my career if he stays put.”
Now, it’s unclear how enticing those free passes are because we don’t really know if Leonard actually likes racing — although he did take a ride with legend Mario Andretti a few years ago when he was still with the San Antonio Spurs. Still, that’s a lot of races.
But what we’re really interested in here is seeing Hinchcliffe sport a helmet with Kawhi on it.
Would Leonard be a small part of it or the major focus? Would it be his face or an image of his whole body? Would he be playing basketball or staring straight into the camera or smiling or what? Would it be Raptors-themed or just Kawhi-themed?
These are important questions, but we’ll only really get the answer if Leonard decides to say and takes Hinch up on his offer.
