Push for Kawhi Leonard to sign with Clippers moves to billboards

With the opening of NBA free agency just around the corner on June 30, a pair of digital billboards wooing NBA Finals most valuable player Kawhi Leonard went live over the weekend in Southern California.

The billboards are located along northbound Interstate 5 in Downey. One is an image of a California vanity license plate featuring the word KAWHI. Another says King of SoCal plus #KAWHI2LAC.

The Clippers are one of several teams attempting to sign Leonard, a Southern California native and two-time NBA champion, in free agency should he decline a player option with Toronto for next season, which he is expected to do.

The person or group behind the effort wasn’t immediately known but a Clippers spokesman said the organization had nothing to do with the billboards. Because Leonard is still currently under contract with Toronto, the billboards could constitute a tampering violation if the Clippers were involved.

A billboars urges Kawhi Leonard to return to his native Southern California and play for the Clippers.

(Andrew Greif / Los Angeles Times)