Kawhi Leonard will return to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Thursday night for the first time since being traded to the Toronto Raptors. Even though the freshness of Leonard forcing his way out of San Antonio is prominent in the minds of the fans, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says he hopes the fans will be able to brush that aside.
“I don’t speak for other people but I hope we treat everybody with kindness and respect,” Popovich said Wednesday, via News4SanAntonio. “We always have in the past.”
Leonard gave the Spurs six great seasons before beginning to check out on them last season. The fans can choose to remember that and welcome Leonard accordingly, or they can choose to still feel upset over Leonard deciding he didn’t want to play for the team anymore and leaving them. If they still need more time to get over that, that would be understandable, but over time he should receive cheers from the fans.
