Kawhi Leonard continues to improve his game after becoming the go-to-guy in San Antonio following Tim Duncan’s retirement and even less game time for Manu and Parker. He’s vying for a third straight Defensive Player of the Year award and continues to assert his dominance as the game’s best two-way player.
Some consider him the dark horse in what is becoming a very interesting MVP race this year. It’s not very hard to see why.
There’s little Kawhi Leonard hasn’t done in the NBA already and right at the top of that list is winning the Maurice Podoloff trophy. A two-time DPOY, NBA finals MVP, All-NBA first teamer and consecutive appearances on the All-Defensive first team, Leonard is already quietly forging a career that’s certainly bound to end up in Springfield, MA. An MVP award this season would cement what is an already impressive legacy.
It’s a bit fitting that Timmy or “the Big Friendly Giant” as I like to call him, is being succeeded by Kawhi. Their demure and unassuming personality and aversion to media is a shared trait. They’re effective without being effusive, going about business quietly and without fuss but getting the job done. Despite playing at different positions, both are renowned for their rock-solid two way ability; elite defense and offensive numbers that’ll have you game planning for them on the defensive end. Their range of offensive and defensive skills may differ – Timmy’s post moves and rim protection against Leonard’s midrange and perimeter shooting as well as his smothering perimeter defense – but the effect is the same, a defeated and exasperated sigh. They’re hard to stop getting to the hoop and even harder to get past on your way to the bucket.
Kawhi’s progression over his past five seasons in the NBA have been nothing short of spectacular. Drafted out of San Diego State University at a lowly 15th pick, most scouts were unsure of his offensive game even if he showed signs of being a very solid NBA defender. The Spurs took the chance on him and now he’s the leader of a second dynasty of Spurs elite basketball with a single mission in mind: to win rings. He became just the third player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year award and NBA finals MVP in 2014 (the others being Hakeem ‘the Dream’ Olajuwon and Michael Jordan) and is one of only 9 men who have won the DPOY multiple times. If he wins it again this year – which he’s making a strong case for – he’d join Dwight Howard as the only players to have won it three times consecutively. His production has steadily increased from year to year and this year he’s setting new career highs in points and assists, learning to use his new found reputation as the Spurs number one offensive option to draw double teams and dish dimes to his teammates.
Averaging a whooping 25.9 points/game (10th in the league), 5.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, Kawhi Leonard has continue to add new facets to his all-round game each off-season. This season after extensive practice with his private trainer, he’s learning to draw contact and get to the foul line. He’s having 7.4 (up from 4.6 last year) attempts from the free throw line and making 6.7 – a 90.2% clip. Everything is a concerted effort with Kawhi, executed metronomically almost making you forget he’s even added a new feature to his game until after the fact. He hit a career high 15 free throws in the opening day demolition of the Warriors super team, finishing with 31 points, a performance that has come to define the Spurs season this year; it’s the year of the KLaw. His ginormous handprint on both ends of the floor is glaring and the slump the Spurs suffered when he got injured earlier this season captured this perfectly but if you weren’t still convinced, just look at his win shares this season. With 9.1, the KLaw is 4th in the league behind James Harden, Kevin Durant and Rudy Gobert (shocker right?). He’s top 10 in almost every relevant advanced stat and despite a jump in his usage (30.7%), he hasn’t lost a beat either end of the floor and his PER of 27.9 is third in the league. The Spurs are on pace for yet another 50+ plus wins season and can give thanks to the rapidly expanding offense and stifling suffocating defense of Leonard.
In 1997, the Spurs drafted a 6’11” kid from Wake forest after a season when their star player (David Robinson) suffered a lengthy injury and foreshadowed what was to come when he retired. The Spurs went 20-62, missed the playoffs and ended up in the lottery. That 6’11” kid went on to win two MVP awards in 2002 and 2003, just five seasons after he was drafted. Getting Kawhi didn’t require the Spurs to tank that badly again (thank goodness) but it still provided the Texan franchise with a worthy successor to Tim Duncan. After missing out on the award last year and coming second, it just might be in his sixth season that we witness the full ascension of the KLaw to the game’s stratosphere of elite superstars.