TUALATIN - Meyers Leonard heard the boos from the home fans on Thursday night at the Moda Center.

Shortly after checking into the game in the third quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Leonard launched a top of key three-pointer that came up well short. His air ball elicited boos from a frustrated crowd watching the Blazers stumble to a double-digit loss.

Leonard heard the boos, mostly because it would be hard to miss them as they rained down from the corners of a sold out arena.

"Now nobody wants to get booed. It would be asinine to say I don't hear it," Leonard said on Friday before adding, "They have the right to do what they want. I think it's pretty bogus."

After the game, Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic gave an unprompted defense of his teammate, calling on fans to boo the entire team when things are going south, not just Leonard.

"I think Nurk is right," Damian Lillard said following Blazers practice on Friday, echoing Nurkic's sentiments from the previous evening. "It ain't right to go and boo a guy, especially when he hasn't played much in the game. And then he gets in in the second half and he hasn't played and one of his first shots, he air-balls. He ain't played all game. Whatever the score is right now, it's not directly reflection of what he's done to impact the game. It's unnecessary.

Leonard calls his relationship with the fans "interesting" and recognized on Friday that those attending the games have every right react however they want. While he insists that fans are the least of his concern, the boos clearly bothered him and he was frustrated Friday that he had to address off court reactions not on-court results.

It's probably unfair, but this is the place his NBA journey has led. He's a former lottery pick turned a backup big man and regular scapegoat. So why is Leonard the target of fans ire?

"I suppose the main reason is because I got paid a pretty good amount of money," said Leonard, who signed a four-year, $41 million contract in July 2016. "But that's just the sports world in itself."

Leonard's best statistical season came in 2014-15 when he posted a 40/50/90 campaign in less than 900 minutes during his third year in the league. He showed flashes the following year when he averaged a career-high 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 2015-16 even as his three-point and free throw shooting numbers dipped below the sterling levels he posted the previous season.

Last season was a complete debacle for Leonard, who struggled on the court while dealing with a nagging shoulder injury, posting the worst shooting season of his career during the first season of his eight-figure deal.

Now in his sixth season Leonard is stuck outside of the regular rotation, playing spot minutes and getting situational shifts like the eight minutes he played Thursday night against the Bucks.

Confidence has been an issue for Leonard throughout his career and he said Friday that in any of his previous five seasons the booing would have lingered with him for much longer. But he insists he's moved beyond worrying about things outside of his control and has turned his attention to Saturday's matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans.

"The fans are the least of my concern," he said. "I'm focused on me. I made 23 out of 25 in my normal three-point shooting drill. I shot well today in practice. I put in a ton of work this summer and I'm going to stay confident and play my game."

Should the boo birds reappear on Saturday night inside the Moda Center, Leonard says he won't let it bother him and he certainly won't let it cause him to hesitate next time he gets a chance at the three-point arc.

"I'm going to keep my head straight forward and keep busting my chops," he said "I'll be as focused as I always am and I'm going to take the shots if they're open."

-- Mike Richman

mrichman@oregonian.com

@mikegrich