Kawhi Leonard doppleganger at Raptors parade is an Oakville local called Royce Lando

During the Toronto Raptors championship parade, a Kawhi Leonard doppelganger was interacting with fans. In videos of the parade, the fake Kawhi Leonard can be seen signing autographs and posing for photos with the Raptors. Some people believed the 20-year-old Royce Lando was actually Leonard, who had let the Raptors to their first-ever NBA title in 2019. 

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Fake Kawhi Leonard signs autographs at Toronto Raptors parade

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As per reports, the Kawhi Leonard lookalike is a 20-year-old Oakville local called Royce Lando, who was born in Angola. Lando is studying computer science at Brock University while working at Tim Hortons to develop a workout app. Lando attended the parade wearing his Raptors jersey, braided hair and a gym bag. While their faces are similar, Lando, who is six feet tall, is half a foot shorter than the Los Angeles Clippers star. 

During an interview, Lando stated that people were going crazy and acting like they saw a famous person. After the Raptors beat Milwaukee Bucks during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, fans spotted Lando leaving the bar and told him he looked like Leonard. Some moments later, the fans picked Lando up and started MVP chants.

Though Lando was on a six-month social media hiatus back then, his friends convinced him to start an Instagram account called 'leanordlookalike', which he would dedicate to impersonating the NBA star. The page had 1000 followers in days and reached 2000 followers in a week. Currently, the page has 4558 followers. 

Lando later revealed that it was not 'really linear' and he just kind of chose to go with the flow. As he was a lookalike, he got to eat through 'Ka’wine & Dine', which was a campaign that promised to feed Leonard throughout his life if he re-signed with the Raptors. During the NBA Finals, Monaghans Grill in Oakville reserved a table for Lando voluntarily where they gave him for free. 

After he started the page, Lando messaged Klay Thompson's impersonator, who managers two YouTube channels – Big Daws TV and The Daily Dropout. They set up a camera crew for when Lando was impersonating Leonard. Now, the video has over 980,000 views on YouTube. Lando even responded to the criticism he received, stating that he woke up that way as his hair has been braided for two years and his facial hair grows like Leonard's.

Fake Kawhi Leonard makes Instagram account

Fake Kawhi Leonard account reaches 1000 followers in two days

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(Image source: @leanordlookalike Instagram, @NBA official Twitter)