SAN ANTONIO — Hasta la vista "The Klaw," and hello "The Terminator."
Former San Antonio Spur - and now Los Angeles Clipper - superstar Kawhi Leonard is embracing a new role - and a new nickname - in a promotional spot for the upcoming "Terminator: Dark Fate" movie.
In the ESPN promo, which made its debut Tuesday, Leonard teams up with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and fellow Clipper Paul George.
Apparently, Leonard's new nickname is "The Terminator," which Schwarzenegger insists is a compliment. Hamilton jests that there's "a Terminator convention" at the sight of Schwarzenegger and Leonard next to each other, and George insists he's "seeing double."
During his 8-year stint in San Antonio, Leonard became known as "The Klaw" largely in part to his stellar defense and gigantic hands. This summer, Leonard sued Nike over his "Klaw" logo design. In the suit, Leonard reportedly alleges that he designed the logo himself and Nike copyrighted the logo without his consent.
Leonard signed with the Clippers this offseason after playing a season with the Toronto Raptors, where he won an NBA Championship and was named Finals MVP. The Spurs traded Leonard and Danny Green to the Raptors in 2018 for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 first-round-pick, which the Spurs used to draft Keldon Johnson.
Leonard will make his Los Angeles debut Tuesday night on ESPN against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers; George will miss at least the first ten games of the season following multiple shoulder surgeries during the offseason.
"The Terminator" - Leonard, that is - will be back (see what we did there?) in San Antonio November 29; the Spurs will play the Clippers in Los Angeles on Halloween night. You can watch that game on KENS 5.
"Terminator: Dark Fate" is in theaters starting November 1. Watch the promo spot below: