‘Three-peat for sure,’ VanVleet says of Raptors had Kawhi Leonard stayed in Toronto

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The Raptors would have more than one championship under their belts had Kawhi Leonard stuck with the franchise, Fred VanVleet believes.

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Speaking on a new episode of former teammate Serge Ibaka’s show How Hungry Are You?, the all-star point guard said Toronto would have won again following the 2018-19 season’s glorious ending in Oakland had Leonard decided not to go home to Los Angeles.

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And they wouldn’t have stopped there, said VanVleet, who got the one NBA Finals MVP vote that eventual winner Leonard did not.

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“Three-peat. For sure,” VanVleet told the big man. “It was just a perfect group of individuals and we all understood, everybody had the right mindset for the roles. I think definitely we would have won a few more.”

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VanVleet could be on to something. The follow-up Raptors team went 53-19 in the COVID-19-shortened season and was the fourth-best defensive team in the NBA even without Leonard and fellow starter Danny Green. Meanwhile, Leonard averaged 27.1 points for a Clippers team that was No. 2 in offence in the league.

Ibaka famously made Leonard eat a piece of “bull penis” pizza on a 2019 episode of the show.

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This time Ibaka had VanVleet drink a cricket-infused beverage when he declined to answer a question from Ibaka.

The most interesting part came when Ibaka asked whether VanVleet would trade young star Scottie Barnes for Kevin Durant, a popular off-season question.

VanVleet said “I wouldn’t do it.” “I told you, I’m a loyal guy; I’m not a trade guy.”

When asked about comments by an American personality that claimed African Americans feel uncomfortable playing in Toronto, VanVleet, said: “That hasn’t been my experience and I don’t know anybody that I’ve played with in the last six, seven years that has had that experience.”

VanVleet called Toronto a “top city in the NBA.”