Kawhi Leonard’s body language after Game 3 loss sparks concern
The body language of Kawhi Leonard after the Toronto Raptors’ 116-95 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday sparked some fan reactions.
Leonard’s Raptors were beaten thoroughly in the game, trailing from the beginning all the way to the end. It really got away in the fourth quarter as Philly cruised to a 21-point win.
When he sat down for his postgame press conference, Leonard looked exhausted and defeated.
Kawhi's body language speaks volumes pic.twitter.com/YITLtlkENn
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) May 3, 2019
Leonard scored a team-high 33 points in the game, but he didn’t get much help from Kyle Lowry, who shot 2/10 and missed all of his threes. Fred VanVleet was similarly off the mark, missing all seven of his field goal attempts.
The big loss combined with the lack of help from his teammates led fans to speculate Leonard was showing signs of being on his way out. He can become a free agent after the year, and there is one team that keeps coming up as a landing spot.
His reaction seemed to be typical of a player whose team just lost badly in a playoff game, but fans want to use any reason to stoke the rumor mill.