It isn’t often that Kawhi Leonard sends social media into a frenzy, but he did on Sunday night. A picture went viral of Leonard in a new look with his braids seemingly cut off, but it turns out he did not get a haircut.
Dejounte Murray also shared a picture in which you can clearly see that Leonard did not have his hair cut.
Kawhi Leonard and Dejounte Murray.
📸: @cassyathena pic.twitter.com/kZwnYyk15p
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) June 17, 2024
The viral picture was taken when Leonard attended the WBA lightweight title fight between Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin in Las Vegas. I must admit, I was certain the 32-year-old had cut his braids off when I saw it, but the angle from which it was taken just made it seem that way.
Leonard has sported that braided look for basically his entire career and I was rather interested to know why he had decided to change it up now. It seemed like a rather odd decision, but it turns out not much has changed.
This is actually the second time that the media and the fans have been bamboozled by a viral picture of Leonard. In 2017, one of him with a new haircut spread like wildfire online, only to later be revealed as a fake.
Just received a call from people close to Kawhi…told me this photo is fake. So there's that. His braids are still intact. #Spurs #NBA pic.twitter.com/m3ARHr5TVK
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) June 21, 2017
This latest picture wasn’t fake but did end up leading to many mistakenly believing that Leonard’s iconic braids were gone. The next time I see an image that shows the six-time All-Star with a new haircut, I am certainly going to wait for some video evidence.
Kawhi Leonard Is Actually A “Fun Guy”
Leonard famously called himself a “fun guy” during his viral introductory press conference with the Toronto Raptors in 2018. Not many bought that over the years, but WNBA star Cameron Brink revealed Kawhi is quite a funny individual.
“The funniest part though was Kawhi. And he is funny as sh*t. He is funny. And all the New Balance guys, like our head marketing guys (was) like we haven’t seen anybody make him laugh more than you. So I was like give me my flowers. Kawhi if you’re watching this. I don’t even remember what I was saying but he was doing like the (mocks Kawhi laugh)… He’s so funny. He’s like the male version of Aubrey Plaza – blunt, dry humor. And he kept saying ‘When is this going to be over?… When do we get to go home? Are we done yet?’…”
Brink was shooting a commercial for New Balance with Leonard at the time and dry humor is certainly the kind I would expect him to specialize in. It is just a pity that most of us will probably never get to him at his funniest. We’ll have to make do with watching the two-time DPOY excel on the court.
In the 2023-24 season, Leonard averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game for the Los Angeles Clippers. He also managed to stay injury-free for much of the campaign but then suffered a knee injury in April.
It led to Leonard missing the end of the regular season and while he made a comeback in the playoffs, it was clear he wasn’t at his best. The Clippers star only ended up playing two games in the series and his team ended up losing in six games to the Dallas Mavericks. It remains a pleasure to watch Leonard at his best, but he has shown at this point that he just cannot be relied upon to stay healthy.
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