NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from the San Antonio Spurs' 125-107 win against the Toronto Raptors

#2 The return of Kwahi

Toronto Raptors v San Antonio Spurs

"Kindness and respect" were the exact words Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich used when he was asked how he expected the home crowd to act towards Kawhi Leonard today. He must have been disappointed by the start of the tribute video.

In what must have been a strange and unusual night for the San Antonio faithful, Leonard returned to the first time to play against the Spurs, the only team he'd ever played for till this season. He was relentlessly booed throughout the warm-ups, the tribute video and every time he touched the ball during the game.

Compounding the extremes was how the exact same Spurs cheered on Danny Green, both during the tribute video and during the game. It was reminiscent of the way Bulls players cheered for Rose. In fact, once the Spurs staff got wind of the atmosphere, they even tried to hide Leonard's introduction immediately after Green's intro (which was met with cheers and applause), but even then the San Antonio faithful found time for boos and weird chants like "traitor".

And here come the "Uncle Dennis" chants.

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) January 4, 2019

This sort of treatment is wrong because even though the guy forced his way somewhere else, he was also Finals MVP during the Spurs' most recent title run.