Kawhi oblivious to attention surrounding iconic shot
Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard sent Toronto and possibly all of Canada into a frenzy when he hit the game-winning jumper in Game 7 of the team's second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
But two days after making arguably the biggest shot in franchise history, Leonard admitted to being oblivious to all the buzz surrounding the iconic moment.
"That's the first time I heard that," said Leonard of his shot being considered a "Canadian heritage moment," after Tuesday's team practice. "I mean pretty much everybody congratulated me and the team just on the win. But no, I don't know the ripple effect of it yet."
He added: "I mean I'm pretty sure everybody is excited just for us moving to the next round. But I'm not sure."
Leonard's shot was the first game-winning buzzer-beater in a Game 7 in NBA history, and many feel it avenged the Raptors' Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Sixers 18 years ago.
His 243 points scored against Philadelphia are the third most in a playoff series post-ABA-NBA merger (1977), trailing only Michael Jordan (246) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (260).
Leonard ranks second in postseason scoring at 31.8 points per contest while adding 8.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.3 steals.
Toronto is set to begin its second-ever Eastern Conference final on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.