Long-time Lakers fan Snoop Dogg makes pitch for Kawhi Leonard to come back to LA
NBA free agency is all but settled with the last major domino to fall being Kawhi Leonard choosing between the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. That’s led to each of those teams — and their fans — going all out to recruit the Finals MVP.
Last Saturday, a Los Angeles-area artist painted a massive mural of Leonard in a Lakers uniform, holding the Larry O’Brien trophy, and now the Lakers have their biggest spokesman yet.
Rapper and long-time Lakers fan Snoop Dogg posted a video to his Instagram account with a song to convince Leonard to return to his hometown.
Uncle Snoop is recruiting Kawhi to the tune of Michael Jackson's “Human Nature” 😭 *NSFW*
(via @SnoopDogg | IG) pic.twitter.com/arsMvwNrsv— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) July 4, 2019
Snoop’s song was short but sweet and to the point:
“Kawhi, Kawhi, tell me that you’ll be a Laker
Kawhi, Kawhi, come back to LA
They said Kawhi, Kawhi, tell me that you’ll be a Laker
Kawhi, Kawhi, come back to LA
Don’t do Drake that way
Kawhi, Kawhi, you should sign back with the Lakers”
This isn’t he first time Snoop has made a recruiting pitch — even about this free agent class. He went on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in June and said that the two players he wanted on the Lakers were Kawhi and Anthony Davis and claimed that he reached out to them to talk about all the business opportunities in L.A.
While Snoop Dogg has been very positive this offseason, he’s been vocal about changes needed in the organization. After an embarrassing loss to the Phoenix Suns in March, he called for mass firings and personnel changes while offering up his box seats at Staples Center for $5.
Let’s hope he hung onto those seats for next year, since the Lakers will enter the 2019-20 season as heavy favorites to win the title.
Drake steps up the recruiting pitch for Leonard
Snoop Dogg isn’t the only rapper trying to recruit Leonard to his hometown team; Drake has gone straight from celebrating the Toronto Raptors’ title to trying to persuade Leonard to stay.
Although he didn’t go into too much detail, the New York Times’ Marc Stein reported that Drake “is said to be mounting his own recruiting campaign” in addition to what the team is doing.
Drake already invited Raptors players to OVO Fest this summer and has made sure to celebrate every step along the way on the title run. Sometimes getting a little too close to the team.
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