Portland Trail Blazers forward Meyers Leonard may not be the most well-known player in the NBA, but outside of Moda Center you’d think the one place he’d be recognized in would be Chicago.
Leonard, who’s averaging 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, is from Robinson, Ill., and played college hoops with the Illinois Fighting Illini. He was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten player for the Illini during the 2o11-12 season, scoring in double figures 21 times, including six 20-point games.
Leonard was so good with the Illini that it led to him being drafted 11th overall by the Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA Draft, so yeah, you’d think he’d be a pretty big deal in the Chicago area.
He’s no Derrick Rose, of course, but at the very least you’d expect Chicago’s PA announcer to know his name.
Alas, for Chicago’s least known son, that didn’t seem to be the case when Portland met up with the Bulls on Monday night. According to CSN Northwest, the Chicago PA announcer kept calling the former Illini “Myles Leonard.”
It was noticeable to the point that Meyers took issue after a foul.
Illinois native Meyers Leonard can't get any love, has to correct PA announcer, who keeps calling him "Myles" https://t.co/y11xozx7hF
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) December 6, 2016
Myles, er, Meyers, finished the game with two points, two rebounds and two turnovers in 12 minutes — a forgettable performance.