Welp, turns out not everyone in Los Angeles is stoked that Kawhi Leonard is a Clipper.
The NBA season officially begins today, which means teams are slowly trotting out the 2K Fantasy Draft-ass rosters they sensationally cobbled together during this past off-season where it seemed like everyone chugged cough syrup and pissed themselves.
[jwplayer ph2uligS]
One of the new-look outfits happens to be the Los Angeles Clippers, which reefed Leonard away from Toronto after he delivered a title to Canada and put him in the much more temperate Californian climate where no one cares about hockey and he’ll never have to choke down another Timbit again.
But even in his first official NBA game as a Los Angeles resident, poor Kawhi can’t seem to catch a break.
Thanks to some lovely scheduling, the Clippers drew cross-town rival LA Lakers first up. Meaning even though it’s technically a “home” game for the Clippers, the crowd inside Staples Centre was never going to be partisan.
And boy oh boy, didn’t Lakers fans let him know about it.
Kawhi’s arrival onto the court, for the first “official” time as a Clipper, was met with an avalanche of booing from Lakers fans. Hell, the hooting and hollering damn-near drowned him out completely during a pre-game interview.
Clippers starting intros, ending with Kawhi’s first intro as a Clipper at Staples pic.twitter.com/BDdP4Lzc1P
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) October 23, 2019
Kawhi addressed the crowd and was drown out with boos pic.twitter.com/C1o8eyq2NM
— Justin Jett (@JustinJett_) October 23, 2019
That continued into the game too, with the boos cascading from the rafters when Leonard stepped to the line for the first time.
Lakers fans booing Kawhi in his first Clippers game at Staples pic.twitter.com/naLfqR8PR6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2019
Brutal. Absolutely brutal.
On other end of the scale, Lakers fans were treated to a fairly rare sight, with LeBron James making good on a promise to bring back his long-dormant pre-game chalk toss.
LeBron’s chalk toss is back 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JGjzPvwmWC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2019
Basketball’s back, baby. It’s better than ever! AwwOOOOOOooooOO!
Now hurry up and bring back the Sonics you absolute rank cowards.
