The Spurs almost never smile. Pursed lips are just who they are (and we love them even more because of it — a lot stuff just isn’t as funny as the internet makes it seem). Every now and then Tim Duncan’s eyes will bug out when a mystery foul gets called, but for the most part, their countenance remains unchanged despite whatever happens on the court, or off. It’s one of many reasons to emulate their dynastic demeanor. They have better things to do than gesticulate wildly when something goes against them, and Spurs fans aren’t going to see a grin unless they’re actually delighted.
During this past weekend’s All-Star festivities, both Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard were in Toronto to take part. Kawhi was named to his first career All-Star team and Popovich was coaching the team because Steve Kerr enjoyed that privilege last year.
The first instance of delight occurred when Gregg Popovich was watching “The Amazing Sladek” perform acrobatics during the game.
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He even clapped along with some of his Spurs assistants (to be clear: he was not clapping for Harden’s antics).
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But Kawhi Leonard was gonna be tougher to charm than the curmudgeonly Pop. Leonard only wants to get better, and it took him a while to figure out the no-defense rule during the actual All-Star game. Regardless, he did nail the whole dunking portion of Sunday’s festivities.
Except, we don’t know if it was Kobe’s speech during pregame, Chris Paul’s dub smash of Adele or Jon Stewart hijinks, but he almost cracks a full-fledged grin while watching something on the big screen here.
Kawhi always seems to be reading the end of Jude the Obscure, or listening to the Nightingale’s song, so maybe someone slipped him some Coleridge in Toronto.
