About

Kawhi Leonard is an American basketball player. His high quality of play and cool on-court demeanor, coupled with off-the-court dramas revolving around when and where he plays, have made him a focus of jokes from the basketball community. After leading the Toronto Raptors to their first championship win in 2019, he became a free agent and chose to play for the LA Clippers.

History

Kawhi Leonard was born June 29th, 1991 in Los Angeles California.^[1] He played from 2009-2011 at San Diego State University before being drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Indiana Pacers. That night, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs. That season, he began playing for the Spurs, and the following season appeared in the NBA Finals. In the 2013-2014 season, he and the Spurs won the NBA Championship and Leonard was named Finals MVP. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in the 2014-2015 season, and was selected as an All-Star the following two years. His 2017-2018 season, his last with the Spurs, was marred by injury, and at one point refused to play based on medical advice from his own doctors, not the team's, who said he could play.

The subsequent tension from this disagreement led to him being traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he played 60 of the team's 82 games and led the team to the best record in the Eastern Conference. On June 13th, 2019, he led his team to a 4-2 win against the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals. He was also named Finals MVP for the second time in his career. After the 2019 season, he officially became a free agent and signed on to play with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Online Presence

Leonard has no social media presence,^[3] as he is known as a quiet and private person.^[2] This has translated to his on-court personality where he appears generally even-keeled and non-emotional, which has been parodied online. On June 6th, 2019, Twitter user @the_real_izzy^[4] posted a meme of Leonard's range of emotions (shown below, left). On June 9th, Twitter user @_ThatBrownGuy^[5] made an object labeling meme about Leonard's stoicism (shown below, right).

On June 8th, 2019, Twitter user @MCarmelengo^[6] parodied Leonard's strange behavior by posting a fake story about his time with the Spurs where he ate apples with a knife and fork while saying "Apple time, apple time."^[6]

This led other users to do the same. Twitter user @sreekyshooter^[7] wrote a story based off a sketch from I Think You Should Leave, and user @RealTomPetrini^[8] posted a story that gained over 470 retweets and 1,900 likes (shown below, right).

Related Memes

Laugh

Onlookers have also mocked Leonard's laugh after he laughed awkwardly in a pre-season press conference on September 24th, 2018 (shown below).

This led fans to make jokes about Leonard's laugh. YouTuber Marko Popovich posted a compilation showing how Leonard's laugh had evolved through the years, gaining over 3.3 million views (shown below).

Later in the year, the Milwaukee Bucks trolled Leonard by playing the laugh over their speakers when Leonard turned the ball over (shown below).

Board Man Gets Paid

On June 3rd, 2019, The Atlantic^[9] ran an article about Leonard's college days at San Diego State University. There, it was revealed that Leonard used to trash-talk opponents with the phrase "Board man gets paid." The story helped inspire the "Apple Time" gag^[10]

After winning Game 3 of the NBA Finals, NBA reporter Robert Littal asked Leonard about the phrase, and Leonard explains that rebounds, or "boards," help win games, and that was what the phrase was in reference to (shown below).

Plant Guy

Plant Guy refers to a video of a fan of the NBAs Toronto Raptors celebrating his team's championship by carrying a plant and saying he wanted to give the plant to Raptors star player Kawhi Leonard as a gift.

On June 13th, 2019, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the team's first NBA Championship. During the celebration in Toronto, Globalnews.ca^[1] posted a video in which they interviewed a celebrating fan carrying a plant. Journalist Mark Carcasole caught up with the fan, dubbing him "plant guy," and interviewed him. The man said the plant was a "housewarming gift" for Kawhi Leonard and that he was hoping to give it to him. Leonard is an unrestricted free agent in the coming offseason, and many Raptors fans hope he will stay in the city. At one point he asks Carcasole "have you seen him?" and Carcasole replied that Leonard was likely celebrating in Oakland, California, where the game took place. After the interview concludes, "Plant Guy" chants "We the forest!", a take on the Raptors' fan-slogan, "We the North!"

During the Raptors' victory parade in Toronto, Plant Guy was filmed giving Leonard a plant, though it is not the same plant as in the video (shown below).

What It Do Baby?

Kawhi Leonard's What It Do Baby refers to a clip of Leonard enthusiastically saying "What it do baby!" in a video posted by Toronto Raptors teammate Serge Ibaka after the Raptors won the 2019 NBA Championship. The clip gained viral fame in part due to Leonard's reputation for stoicism and odd social behavior, and saw use as a reaction clip on Twitter.

On June 15th, 2019, Toronto Raptors player Serge Ibaka posted a story to his Snapchat featuring him and Kawhi Leonard, who he calls "fun guy." When the camera pans to Leonard, he says "What it do, babyyyy!" The clip was posted to Twitter by user @MSlickk, gaining over 7,700 retweets and 35,000 likes (shown below).

The clip quickly spread on Twitter as people joked about Leonard showing his "fun" side in an awkward way. User @JRoc23 tweeted it was the "Summer of Kawhi 'WHAT IT DO BABY'," gaining over 20 retweets and 80 likes (shown below, top). User @OzzyForMayor joked that it appeared Leonard was rolling a marijuana blunt, gaining over 1,000 retweets and 5,500 likes (shown below, bottom).

The Shot

The Shot refers to Kawhi Leonard's buzzer beater during game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers. The first game 7 buzzer beater in NBA history, the ball bounced on the rim four times before going in, leading to a 92-90 win.

Search Interest

External References