San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is best-known as the NBA’s premier two-way player. However, he isn’t readily associated with smiles and laughs unlike his contemporaries across the League.
Kawhi has been on a smiling-spree in his most recent public appearances this summer. Rapper 2Chainz first posted a photo of the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year wearing a small yet evident smile at his event. Succeeding images of “Smiling Kawhi” surfaced as part of his Jordan Brand tour across China. Basketball fans have been caught off-guard by the recent frequency of Kawhi flashing his pearly whites.
Even teammate Manu Ginobili was caught off-guard by the sudden change of Kawhi’s persona. In six seasons as teammates, Ginobili has yet to see Kawhi smile as much as he’s smiling at the moment.
Spurs fans sure hope that in spite of Smiling Kawhi, the 6’7 superstar remains as aggressive and tenacious on both ends of the floor. As for the rest of the League, they can only hope that Smiling Kawhi takes it easy on them come the regular season and deep in the playoffs.
BasketBola 