Advertisement

The Spurs had a subtle difference in their goodbye messages to Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, and some believe it's a petty shot at the team's departing superstar

Spurs Twitter
Spurs Twitter

@Spurs / Twitter

  • The San Antonio Spurs traded beleaguered superstar Kawhi Leonard away to the Toronto Raptors along with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 pick.

  • After the deal was made official, the Spurs sent both Leonard and Green off with farewell posts from the team's official Twitter account.

  • Some fans on social media noted the subtle difference between the goodbyes, and believed them to be a shot at Leonard.

After months of ongoing drama that became one of the oddest stories of the NBA season, Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs have gone their separate ways, with Leonard and teammate Danny Green being traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 pick.

Leonard, who not long ago was in the MVP conversation for his brilliant two-way play and the heir-apparent to Tim Duncan as the next Spurs-lifer, left the team on what could be generously described as contentious terms, after sitting out all but nine games of the 2017-18 season due to injury, and ongoing disputes with team doctors about the severity of those injuries.

Despite those circumstances, the Spurs wished Leonard well in a goodbye tweet sent from the team's official account.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019615262662938626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
pic.twitter.com/b5NxE0Q4YY

A similar tweet was sent out to Green, who was joining Leonard in the great venture up north.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019615277926047744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
pic.twitter.com/8ILuDeZdvQ

While most might view both tweets as simple goodbyes for two players who helped bring a championship to the team, some Twitter users sensed a bit of pettiness on the part of the Spurs' social team, due to the font size of Green's thank you in comparison to Leonard's.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019615572420710404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
WOW. Spurs being petty with the difference in “Thank You” message sizes. Look how small Kawhi’s is LMAO @World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/HlF0HWZn8u Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019635538855227393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Lmao Spurs hella petty for giving my man Kawhi the smallest little “thank you” ever 🤣 pic.twitter.com/H5QfQc1TbE Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019616474472812544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
the spurs are petty even through their font size pic.twitter.com/Q8LBJjOnpX

It's possible that the difference was intentional. It's also possible that Leonard's goodbye post just looked better with the words placed in the center. Regardless, head coach Gregg Popovich wished both players well as they left for Toronto while speaking with reporters after the news came out.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1019659319426666498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Coach Popovich addresses the media after today's trade. pic.twitter.com/dzl6dlwUI8

The trade puts the Raptors in an interesting position — with Leonard playing 100%, the team can compete for the Eastern Conference title, but they only have one season to do it, as Leonard is set to become a free agent in 2019.

The 2018-19 NBA season tips off this October.

NOW WATCH: Why soccer players "flop" so much

See Also: