Kawhi Leonard has been playing basketball for his own brand for a long time, and he has a track record of backing it up.
Kawhi Leonard has made up a significant portion of scrutiny throughout his NBA career. His underprivileged ejection from the San Antonio Spurs and a disappointing playoff run damaged by injuries during his tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers partially defines his career, but he is still one of the best players in NBA history.
He has six All-Star appearances, six All-NBA nods, two defensive player of the year awards, and critically two Final MVPS.
Although Leonard rarely played, he is one of the best postseason players in NBA history, and the Denver Nuggets are learning how difficult he is.
With the first round series tied 1-1, Leonard averages a highly efficient 30.5 points per game, despite playing an outdated style of basketball.
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Larry Bird are one of the best midrange shooters ever. With the exception of Paul, most players are away from modern shots, with players like Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony and Demar Derozan posting excellent scores in the midrange as their focus, but none of them ever led to postseason success.
In the modern NBA, Leonard is an outlier, and old-fashioned players appreciate being able to score from the entire court, not just the three-point range like most modern wings.
“It’s refreshing to watch,” said Paul Pierce after Game 2, when Leonard scored 39 points. “His game doesn’t look like an analysis. He plays like how I actually played and we played in the early 2000s.
In Game 2, Leonard unintentionally respected in the 1990s and 2000s, shooting nine almost perfect things from the midrange.
“Just seeing a healthy kowi has forgotten how amazing he is because I haven’t had the opportunity to see him in these playoff moments in the last few years.” “If he can stay healthy in Harden, the look of this Clipper team can… shake things up in the West.”
Angelenos has heard this before. Since his “Rob City” days and joining the Paul George and Leonard Clippers, the team has been promoted as a candidate for a long time and is always in short supply.
Despite boasting six seasons of Leonard, the franchise has never made it to the finals. James Harden, who has a collection of playoff failures this year, is the second best player, but it appears the team has put their ego aside.
“He looks like the purest form of basketball. I don’t know how to explain it,” Pierce finished. “I saw the superstar rise on this opportunity. It was beautiful to see both ends of the court. A scorer like myself, when you get it, there’s nothing you can really do.”
If Leonard continues his offensive output, appears unstoppable and can stay on the court, the Clippers are legitimate candidates and should be preferred over the Nuggets, but they are huge what-ifs.