Thanks to this year’s NBA Media Day, we now know why Kawhi Leonard doesn’t laugh that much
Photo from Los Angeles Lakers’ Twitter
The 2018-19 NBA season is still a few weeks away but the press has already given us a taste of what’s to come. As expected, this year’s NBA Media Day was also jam-packed with quotes from notable players and a lot of photos to constantly remind us that several stars are already part of new teams. From Kawhi Leonard’s terrifying laugh to Enes Kanter’s hard nipple, we’ve rounded up the best moments at this year’s NBA Media Day.
Kawhi Leonard laughed for the first time in eight years
The former Spurs star didn’t just laugh, he actually giggled at his own joke. As we all know, Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan during the offseason, and the uncomfortable silence of Leonard throughout his entire NBA stint pretty much piqued every person in Toronto and around the world’s interest about him.
A reporter from Toronto Star asked Leonard, “A lot of people up here don’t know much about you. How would you describe yourself, and what would you like people to know about you?” And with a straight face, Leonard answered: “I’m a fun guy.”
The man did not even show any emotion. But he quickly explained that “He loves the game of basketball” which is an obvious thing, of course, and that he just couldn’t give a “whole spiel” and joked that he didn’t even know where the reporter was sitting as he burst into his weird laugh.
He laughed for a few seconds and in a snap, he put his straight face back on. There you go, Toronto. That’s all you need to know about Kawhi.
Channing Frye occupies LeBron’s locker in Cleveland
If a king leaves his castle for good, someone has to take over his throne, right? But who’s it going to be? Turns out, Channing Frye found no trouble in filling the vacancy LeBron left in the Cavs’ locker room.
Kevin Love posted an Instagram Story where Frye was seen comfortably sitting and minding his food in front of his locker, and when Love asked him whose locker it was, the vet replied, “Some dude’s.”
The stars and the misfits in the Lakers team photo shoot
We’ve already seen LeBron wearing the purple and gold uniform for a couple of times before, but the more we stare at him, the more it gets weirder.
But what felt more out of place is looking at Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and Javale McGee all together wearing the same uniform in one photo:
All weirdness aside, when a reporter asked LeBron if he feels any pressure about playing with his new team, the king simply answered a cold “Nothing.” Right now, all we know is that LeBron’s clicking with veteran guard Rajon Rondo and is liking the attitude of Kyle Kuzma. The star also said he doesn’t believe that success is defined by winning championships as he admitted that the Lakers are far away from closing the gap with the Golden State Warriors.
Enes Kanter’s playoff nipples
“When I think about playoffs, my nipples get hard.” There are some quotes that require no explanation and this line from Kanter is one of those. Over the course of seven seasons, Kanter has already played in three post-seasons, 27 games, over 400 minutes, with two hard nipples.
The monstars of Golden State Warriors
Can we already give the Warriors the championship trophy as early as now? When you look at their team photo, you’re going to actually ask yourself for a second, “How is this possible? Five All-Star players in one team?” And then you’ll wake up to reality and realize that the Warriors really added DeMarcus Cousins to their already stacked starting lineup.
A healthy Celtics
We all know what a healthy Boston Celtics team can do. Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, and Al Horford—we can finally see the Celts’ strongest five play the season together for a longer time than we did last year. And if there’s one team who can dominate the East and put up a good fight against the Warriors, it’s obviously the Celtics.
And a good news for all Boston fans, we might want to slow down a little on hyping up the “Kyrie Irving to New York Knicks” move. On the Celts’ media day, Irving hinted about future plans with Boston.
“I believe Boston is the place for me. When you want to be on the same lineage of greatness as the guys that have come before you, there are times where I have thought about having No. 11 in the rafters, hopefully, one day. That’s a dream.”