It's been five years since, perhaps, the single worst trade in San Antonio Spurs history. Mind you, the organization once parted ways with local icon and Hall of Famer George Gervin. And over the years San Antonio has been on the wrong end of some lopsided deals. But sending Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors on that July 2018 morning meant parting ways with the “face of the franchise” in the prime of his career, thereby altering the course of a franchise that would lose at a rate it had never seen.
Leonard is back in San Antonio this week as his Los Angles Clippers play two against the Spurs. Though the intensity of the reaction has simmered, not all has changed since his first trip back to the Alamo City.
Leonard's initial return to San Antonio on January 3, 2019 sparked visceral reactions from San Antonians. The then AT&T Center crowd booed him mercilessly. The jeering started when he initially stepped onto the court for pregame warmups, reached a fever pitch during the introduction of the starting line-up, and continued every single time he touched ball. All that booing stood out even more when you consider Spurs fans had plenty to cheer about in a 125-107 win.
Another team and four seasons later, The Klaw still hears it from the San Antonio faithful.
Kawhi Leonard's return to San Antonio
ClutchPoints tweeted a video of the Clippers introductions Monday. When Leonard's name was called, plenty of boos were heard throughout the recently renamed Frost Bank Center.
The reaction on social media, specifically X, came fast and furious.
Most of the reactions on X, though, did side with the negative reaction by the crowd. For instance, folks were swift to respond to those who thought Leonard should be embraced again. Leonard won NBA Finals MVP in 2014 as part of a two-year run to the Finals for an organization that also won titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
“Nah, he doesn't, he won them a ring, what else do they want?” Blessing (@Blessin08201200) posted on whether the 32-year-old star should still hear the boos.
That post elicited these responses:
“He didn't win a ring, it was us who helped him. He was supposed to be the transition player from the BIG 3 era to next generation. He decided to leave by faking injuries, going AWOL and till today spurs are not able to recover from that,” X user @Vivek_AeroX wrote.
“He won them nothing bro averaged 15, 6, 3,” commenter @brandoningram77 added.
Another critic @WEMBYSPUR1 added: “He didn't win us a ring lol he helped get us a ring lol.”
That's just a sampling of the majority of the responses.
Kawhi Leonard won two Defensive Player of the Year awards and earned two NBA All First Team Selections to go with a ring and that Finals MVP in his seven seasons in San Antonio. Since the trade, the Spurs have failed to qualify for the playoffs four times. They had only missed the postseason three times since they arrived in 1973.
Across the court this week, Leonard now watches from halfway across the country as a Spurs team that's lost nine straight games rebuilds around Victor Wembanyama.
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