Kawhi Leonard is the definition of hard work, persistence and greatness. From when he first entered the league averaging 7.9 points largely off the bench, Kawhi has worked at his craft and become a legitimate MVP candidate.
Leonard is not the type of player who will declare himself an MVP candidate, taunt opposing players or showboat after one spectacular play.
Instead, his humble attitude and killer instincts have combined to create the greatest role model in the NBA.
His constant growth and improvement have the Spurs contending for a championship following the retirement of Tim Duncan.
On Tuesday, when Leonard led San Antonio to a comeback win over the Houston Rockets, there was no showboating, no hysterics and no nonsense. Just contained excitement, knowing that his work is only beginning as the playoffs near.
We saw 39 points, a game-winning three followed by a block, a quick embrace with his teammates, then a walk to the locker room.
Following his spectacular block on Harden, Kawhi calmly dribbled the ball until he was fouled, knocked down his free throws to extend the lead, and as the final buzzer sounded, calmly exited.
This is the attitude adopted by the Spurs greats that have gone before him, and is the identity of the NBA’s best two-way player.
While other players throughout the course of a game celebrate each play and energise the crowd, Kawhi just plays the game of basketball. He has earned the right to showboat, and other players should not be criticised for their personality, but Leonard’s attitude and respect for the game should be celebrated.
Winning in the NBA, whether it be a championship or a mere playoff appearance, starts with culture. It requires sacrifice, humility and dedication, and without a star player willing to display these traits, the task of achieving glory is almost impossible.
It is easy to fall in love with the historic numbers being put up by Russell Westbrook and James Harden, or the unwavering freight train that is LeBron James. It is easy to admire the ball handling of Kyrie Irving, or the relentless attack on the rim from Isaiah Thomas.
And it is easy to admire the lockdown defence of Kawhi Leonard, or the elegant stroke that is his three-point shot. But as basketball fans, we must love and embrace Kawhi’s humility over anything else.
LeBron, Shaquille O’Neal and Westbrook are often spoken of as once-in-a-lifetime players, and they are. But we have only ever seen one superstar who displays the same humility and respect as Kawhi Leonard, and his name was Tim Duncan.
Perhaps as Duncan’s final contribution to basketball enthusiasts, we have Kawhi Leonard. And there is no better role model.
express34texas
Guest
True, but that's not much of a difference. Think about it, they were one of the top 10-12 regular season teams ever and only made the 2nd round. It seems like you're trying to come up with excuses for SA. I don't buy it. And this is what we've often seen with SA. Duncan had a few great years in there, but he's rarely been the type of player that will go out and dominate games/series. SA has only been more about the sum of parts rather than individually. Leonard's a great player and has had phenomenal casts around him every year, but I haven't seen him put his team on his back like KD/RW have. We deal in reality, not fantasy. OKC was very good last season, but still only 55 wins(not 59). They had so many problems, especially closing out games. What we saw in their series vs SA was that RW/KD were the 2 best players on the court, and Leonard probably was only the 4th best player in the series. That's just not going to cut it for him if we're going to say he's a legit MVP candidate and better than RW/KD, though things may change this postseason. We just haven't seen yet. If Kawhi played better, you might have a slight point, but he didn't play as well as he should've or needed to.
mushi
Guest
The issue there is I think that the spurs are the only 2 seed of those that you list meaning in all likelihood they played a tougher second round opponent. Also worth mentioning that 4 of the 12 were in the 70s/60 in a pre 16 team playoff so had one less round to get to the arbitrary cut off for an individual player being good because of team playoff performance. This becomes clearer if you look at their opponents. The thunder were a 55 win 59 Pythagorean team. None of the other teams since the 70’s played a side of that quality, and only one prior ranked legitimately higher and one about even, in the round the spurs got knocked out so it is hardly evidence that we can use to damn Kwahi’s ability to be the lead player on successful team.
express34texas
Guest
OKC's bigs, huh? Adams stepped up his game some, but Ibaka/Kanter underperformed from the regular season. They helped, but the difference was KD/RW. RW didn't shoot well, but he had an excellent all-around floor game for the series. Leonard wasn't on par with them. Aldridge actually led the way for SA. SA was a historically-great team with 67 wins. Only 12 teams have accomplished this with 8 of the 12 winning titles. Only 2 teams have failed to reach the CF(2007 DAL, 2016 SA). OKC did have 2 MVP-caliber guys, but it's still a big failure, and one reason why Leonard hasn't quite been on RW/KD's level. Matchups will be key in the playoffs. If OKC can come close to duplicating last night's performance vs SA with RW shooting poorly as well, they could certainly knock off anyone in a given series. RW's on a mission, and his team might actually be up for the challenge now.
Justin Ahrns
Roar Guru
Yes, you could also throw in Dirk as well. As for Kawhi underperforming, I'd say that the Spurs were outclassed by OKC last season because of the dominance of OKC's bigs, not so much Kawhis play. Either way, he is priming himself for a big playoff run
express34texas
Guest
Pretty accurate about Leonard. But, while he made a name for himself in the 2014 playoffs, he wasn't yet an AS-caliber player then, which he's become the past 3 seasons. He's had 2 great casts behind him in 2015 and 2016, and has only managed to win one playoff series. He's underachieved quite a bit since becoming SA's best player. He needs to step it up this postseason. I'd say Erving/Russell to name at least two more legends were similar to Duncan/Leonard in demeanor, and I"m sure there's been many more, especially if we include guys like Hayward as superstars. I don't know much about Hayward, but haven't heard anything negative about him. He seems pretty respectful.