Kawhi Leonard Fires Back At Gregg Popovich's 'Funny' Leadership Remarks

Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard surprisingly responded to comments from San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich claiming he was not a leader for the team.

Leonard was traded by the Spurs earlier this summer after his relationship seemingly deteriorated with the franchise. He claimed they had mishandled a quadriceps injury suffered earlier this year while comments about his delayed return from Popovich and the likes of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili did not do him any favors, as he went on to request a trade.

And when Popovich was questioned recently over the importance of Patty Mills, particularly after the departures of players like Leonard, Parker and Ginobili during the offseason, he had this to say.

"Well, Kawhi (Leonard) was a great player, but he wasn't a leader or anything," Popovich said. "Manu (Ginobili) and Patty (Mills) were the leaders. Kawhi's talent will always be missed, but that leadership wasn't his deal at that time."

"That may come as he progresses, but Patty and Manu filled that role for us last year, and LaMarcus (Aldridge) came a long way in that regard also," he added.

Leonard did not take kindly to his former head coach's comments as he responded following Toronto's 125-115 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday.

"It's just funny to me," Leonard said, according to TSN's Josh Lewenberg. "I don't know if he's talking about last year or not. I guess when you stop playing they forget how you lead... It doesn't matter. I'm here with the Raptors and I'm focused on the season and not what's going on on the other side."

"I lead by example. Coming into practice everyday just going hard and coming into these games mentally focused. You can't see things once you're playing on the floor - guys ask me questions about their matchup, or if I see something on the floor I'm telling guys 'go here, go there'. Just motivating people, you know what I mean? I just try to lift people's spirits on the floor. That's about it. Just don't try to get nobody too down and just lift them up," he said.

Leonard has been in MVP form since joining the Raptors.

The win over Miami takes their regular season record to 17-4 as they currently lead the Eastern Conference and are big favorites to enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed for the second year in a row.

The 27-year-old scored a team-high 29 points in that game and currently averages 24.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals over 14 games. A big reason for his form is because of how the team caters to him.

"It's been great, like I said before, everyone's just been great," Leonard said last month. "Trying to make me comfortable, getting me on my spots on the floor, they want me to be me out there on the court and [head coach] Nick Nurse has his ears open and listens to his players. That just helps us, going out there and playing freely."

While his leadership has been questioned, his ability on the court certainly cannot.