Kawhi Leonard left the San Antonio Spurs three years ago, but the feelings are still very harsh between the two. Leonard was a pivotal figure for the Spurs in the early part of his career, even helping them win an NBA championship in 2014. For his performance in the 2014 Finals, especially the defense he played on James, Leonard was named the Finals MVP. The stage seemed set for Leonard to become the face of the Spurs franchise as the big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili were coming to the end of their respective careers.
But Leonard struggled as the sole superstar of the Spurs. He had very public disagreements with Gregg Popovich. After a long-drawn injury situation with the Spurs, Leonard made his dissatisfaction with the franchise clear and demanded a trade. Leonard was eventually traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he helped them win an NBA championship before he left in free agency to join the Clippers. Spurs fans have felt betrayed by Leonard’s departure from the franchise, and haven’t forgiven him since then. And one Spurs fan chose to harshly respond to Leonard upon seeing him at the NBA Summer League.
One San Antonio Spurs fan took to Twitter to post a video where his son is throwing expletives at Kawhi Leonard. He mentioned in the caption that he taught his son well to curse at Leonard in public. The Tweet went viral, leading to NBA superstar Donovan Mitchell responding to the fan. He told the fan that he shouldn’t be allowing or giving himself or his son any credit for how he behaved with Kawhi.
“This is lame asf encouraging your son to do this”
My son is savage 😎 💯 #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/tLohOBCr3k
— Spurnandez (@RealSpurnandez) August 10, 2021
This is lame asf encouraging your son to do this🤦🏾♂️😒 https://t.co/6dpQCs54eN
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) August 10, 2021
Mitchell was clearly standing up for a fellow NBA player who was on the receiving end of unnecessary abuse from fans. Leonard is one of the quieter players in the NBA and doesn’t have any kind of social media presence. So it is unlikely that we will see any kind of public response from Leonard’s camp regarding this fan’s behavior toward him.
