For Kawhi Leonard to continue ascent, Raptors must do their part

It felt good. Kawhi Leonard said so in his post-game press conference when describing his seemingly impossible three-point fadeaway over the outstretched arm of seven-foot tall Joel Embiid that effectively levelled the seven-game series between the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers at two games apiece.

“The stuff that he can get off — and we had two people out there — the stuff that he can do to create his own shot is Kobe-like for me,” opposing coach Brett Brown said after the game. “He's just so gifted in relation to doing that.”

It always seems so with a select few. As a viewer, one could sense the inevitability of the moment when Michael Jordan rose above Bryon Russell to cement his legacy, or when Kevin Durant twice rose up from virtually the same spot in Cleveland to slam the door on the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, or even when LeBron James knocked out any semblance of hope for the Raptors with a running banker at the buzzer last season. A big reason why these moments are remembered, though, is because they ended in victory. If Leonard is to maintain his ascent back to the pinnacle as the best two-way player in the game, Toronto must keep winning.

As this series between the Raptors and Sixers heads to its fifth game, the greatness of Leonard is becoming undeniable. Despite the gritty, grind-it-out nature of Game 4, with the game on the line and Leonard in the zone the way he was, even the star-laden starting five of the Sixers looked to be at the mercy of the best player in the series, and, arguably, the world right now.

Vince Carter once put the Raptors franchise on the map with his gravity-defying dunks, and there was an electricity about watching him and his team go about their business night in and night out. ‘The Claw’ has now brought back that same vibe to the Raptors and one can’t help but compare what he’s done to the incredible performances of Carter against those very 76ers back in 2001.

Over seven games, the man known as ‘Half-Man, Half-Amazing’ averaged 30.4 points, six rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.9 steals and two blocks. He made 49.2 percent of his two-pointers, 42.2 percent of his threes, and 84.2 percent of his free-throws.

How has Leonard made him and his team must-see TV? Through four games in this series, the 27-year-old is averaging 38 points, nine rebounds and four assists while shooting a staggering 68.9 percent from two-point range, 48.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 85.8 percent from the free-throw line. All this while the majority of his teammates have struggled to hit the broad side of a barn. Leonard’s numbers almost make Carter’s robust stats seem human.

“He’s been really, really good, and from my vantage point it’s been really fun to watch,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said after practice Monday. “We’ve needed him to be that good, so it’s good.

“I’m not a comparisons type of guy, it’s different rules, different era, different players, different schemes, different matchups, all those kinds of things make it hard. But, in this era, and the situation we’re in right now, he’s pretty damn good.”

In a league where conversations run a 24/7-365 day cycle, it’s understandable why the true greatness of Leonard could have been forgotten. This is an era where what’s new and shiny today is stale and archaic tomorrow. Luka Doncic was almost an all-star in his rookie season and Giannis Antetokounmpo may well be the league’s MVP for the first time.

LeBron James’ absence for over 25 regular season games and these entire playoffs shows there is a throne waiting to be claimed, and while he may have purchased some immunity despite losing the last couple years with the greatest Finals comeback against the greatest regular season team, 3-4 and only getting older looms larger than the infamous 3-1 now. Durant — on the back of two Finals MVPs — is making an incredibly compelling case for his own right to it, although doubters will still place an asterisk based on the supporting cast around him.

Leonard, whose name remained in the periphery of the media for dramatic purposes as the circus act between those closest to him and the San Antonio Spurs enveloped the regular season, submerged underneath conversations surrounding the game’s best with just nine games played. Despite some MVP calibre numbers this season, load management didn’t help his case this year. It was hard to truly evaluate where his level was compared to other elite stars who were playing in back-to-backs and shouldering the team’s load night after night.

All those doubts have been eviscerated with his performances through nine playoff games, and especially the last four. Gone yesterday and here today, it is the Raptors who must now keep Leonard in the conversation. Lose the series and Leonard fails to see his name where it belongs and there’s the potential for a whole domino effect in the summer from there. When the Boston Celtics decimated the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1, questions were immediately raised over the legitimacy of Antetokounmpo’s claim to be the best in the game. Two games later, those conversations seem silly.

What Leonard’s performances thus far have shown is that he is worthy of the throne, but in the best league in the world where the margins are ever so thin, it may just come down to who the last man standing is. While the status of whether Leonard will stay or go has been tethered to what the Raptors do this postseason, much of that inextricable link comprises of Leonard viewing Toronto as a place where he can be viewed as the best in the game.

People still remember Carter and Allen Iverson’s duel 18 years ago, but the all-encompassing feeling and everlasting memory of that series begins and ends with the final shot that Carter missed. For Leonard’s heroics to be remembered in the vein it deserves, and for his rebuilt status to maintain its steady rise, the result of this series and any that follow need to feel good, too.

More Raptors coverage from Yahoo Sports