They had come to honor the memory of Erin Popovich at a San Antonio restaurant a month ago, generations of Spurs players, coaches and executives traveling to pay their respects to the program patriarch's late wife. The room, thick with emotion and nostalgia, represented two decades of the franchise's basketball family, including its elusive current superstar, Kawhi Leonard.
Throughout the gathering, Leonard appeared as comfortable as he ever does in social settings. No more, no less engaged. For a night anyway, Leonard moved easily among his contemporaries and predecessors. Months of mistrust and acrimony peeled back.