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We think Kawhi Leonard was joking. Except it’s Kawhi Leonard, a man whose emotional reserve makes Tim Duncan look like Dennis Rodman in comparison.





So when he offered this tidbit up after practice on Monday on how the Spurs handle backup center/barbarian-at-heart Aron Baynes, we can only assume he was telling the truth.

“We try to leave him out of practice a little bit so he won’t hurt anyone,” Leonard said. “You have to watch out for him.”

Tony Parker said something similar last season, offering up an amusing insight into what it is to play against — and even with — a player whose style could best be described as bull in a china shop.

Much of the damage Baynes inflicts results from the molar-rattling picks he sets with his muscular 6-foot-10, 260-pound frame. Not even his own teammates are immune, as evidenced by his handling.

“Baynes-ey is just big and wide so he hurts whenever he sets screens,” Manu Ginobili said. “I remember one time I tried to get a charge (in practice). The worst idea I have had in these 12 years (in the NBA). It’s not happening any time soon.”