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USATSI

Since suffering a mouth laceration during the Clippers' Christmas game against the Denver Nuggets, Kawhi Leonard has been out of commission for his team, not suiting up for the last two games. That all changed on Wednesday when he returned to the court against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The injury Leonard suffered required eight stitches and wasn't fully healed when he returned to the court, which meant he had to wear a face guard to protect his mouth area from getting hit. But when images of the Clippers star in the mask began to surface, people started noticing that it was a bit oddly shaped.

Of course, many NBA fans will associate the face mask that players tend to break out with Rip Hamilton, the former Pistons star who started regularly wearing one after breaking his nose twice in one season, and doctors telling him he'd need to wear one to avoid requiring reconstructive surgery. So with the familiarity of that mask, which other players have worn since Hamilton donned his in the early aughts, the difference with Leonard's is rather stark. 

In many cases that difference is also quite funny, as many Twitter users pointed out during Wednesday's game. Here are some of the best tweets from Leonard's return to the court with his interesting new face mask.