Kawhi Leonard teams up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in skit for Terminator: Dark Fate

Kawhi Leonard’s nickname is “The Claw” but you might as well call him T-1000 judging by the reaction of his performance in the promo for the latest instalment of the Terminator franchise.

The NBA universe seems to be revolving around Los Angeles with the Clippers and Lakers rivalry red-hot as the campaign tipped off on Tuesday. The Clippers got one over the LeBron James-led Lakers by beating them 112-102 in the first battle of Los Angeles.

Leonard hit seven straight shots in one stretch in the dominating performance – he still got booed by sections of the crowd for not joining the Lakers – but before his fine performance at Staples Centre, he was hamming it up with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, the two main stars of James Cameron’s epic cyborg movie.

And in a strange and amusing promo with a surprising twist in the end, Leonard was at his expressionless best that played straight in the hands of the promo for Terminator: Dark Fate.

Paramount Pictures tries to capitalise on Leonard being in Tinseltown after winning the NBA championship with the Raptors last season, and throw in Schwarzenegger and Hamilton, who plays Sarah Connor in the movie, you get a cross-promotion commercial that kinda works. Clippers’ Paul George also makes a cameo appearance in the promo.