Pop takes mic, chastises Spurs fans booing Kawhi

SAN ANTONIO — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich grabbed the PA announcer’s microphone during Wednesday night’s game against the LA Clippers and asked the home fans to stop booing while former Spurs standout Kawhi Leonard shot a pair of free throws.

Leonard stepped to the line with 3:06 left in the second quarter. As the crowd began booing during Leonard’s first free throw, Popovich briefly spoke to crew chief Tyler Ford before walking over to the scorer’s table.

“Excuse me for a second,” Popovich said to the crowd. “Can we stop all the booing and let these guys play? Have a little class. That’s not who we are. Knock off the booing.”

After a short pause, the boos got louder and louder at the Frost Bank Center. The boos came not only for Leonard when he touched the ball but for anyone else on the Clippers, especially when James Harden found his way to the free throw line.

Leonard finished with a game-high 26 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Clippers won 109-102.

Since Leonard was traded from the Spurs in 2018, he has been regularly booed whenever he has returned to San Antonio, a practice not uncommon from fans toward players who have left franchises on bad terms.

The Clippers defeated the Spurs on Monday night, and the boos were the same for Leonard throughout the game.