Kawhi Leonard faced a harsh realization on Tuesday night that Los Angeles is very much a Lakers town before anything else.
Leonard spoke to the fans attending Tuesday’s opener between the Lakers and Clippers at Staples Center that was considered a home game for the Clippers (the two teams share a home arena). As Leonard spoke, he was booed by many of the Lakers fans in attendance.
Take a listen:
Kawhi addressed the crowd and was drown out with boos pic.twitter.com/C1o8eyq2NM
— Justin Jett (@JustinJett_) October 23, 2019
Leonard was also booed during introductions.
Substantial boos for Kawhi as he was introduced (he was later booed more as he addressed the crowd) pic.twitter.com/Nc5kwPyqGx
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 23, 2019
And he was booed while shooting free throws:
Kawhi loudly booed while shooting free throws at "home" pic.twitter.com/Q3hNjtpRVk
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 23, 2019
Lakers fans are mostly upset because Leonard chose to sign with the Clippers over them. The Lakers are used to being the team in town and getting the coveted free agents, so losing one to the Clippers is a major culture shock.
Leonard probably knew the boos were coming based on his appearance at a Rams game this season.
