NBA Twitter Had Tons Of Jokes About Kawhi Leonard’s New Mask

The Clippers played host to the Blazers on Wednesday night as Portland did the old L.A. back-to-back after having beaten the Lakers on Monday. Things didn’t go as well for the Blazers on this night, as the Clippers steamrolled them, thanks in part to the return of Kawhi Leonard to the lineup.

Leonard had missed their last two games after taking some friendly fire on Christmas from Serge Ibaka that left him needing stitches after an elbow to his mouth caused a bloody scene on the court. He returned on Wednesday donning a mask as so many have done in the past in the NBA, but unlike the Rip-Hamilton-style face shields that have become en vogue, the nature of Leonard’s injury required a, well, unique design.

The odd shape of Leonard’s mask drew a lot of comparisons to Hannibal Lector’s mask, with the tiny mouth hole — albeit without the bars on it — as NBA Twitter went to work on photoshops and jokes.

https://twitter.com/johnwilmeswords/status/1344486325978714113

There were also lots of comparisons to Dwight Schrute from The Office, both in his Hannibal moment when he cut the face off of the CPR dummy and his own masked hoops look.

https://twitter.com/steventurous/status/1344502160613126147

There were also plenty of wrestling jokes about Kawhi’s new look, among other lovely references, as NBA Twitter is at its best when someone comes out on the court with a new look.

https://twitter.com/ShutUpAndrosky/status/1344491667370377217

The mask did its job, and Leonard seemed more than comfortable in his new look, as he had 28 points in three quarters of play as the Clippers put it on the Blazers. Still, it was certainly an interesting and unique look, one I wouldn’t expect many others to try out if they have their choice of design.