Kawhi Leonard may not be a budding superstar anymore, he might already be there.
Kawhi Leonard is the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s really good. Really, really good.
Despite the offseason signing of LaMarcus Aldridge, the San Antonio Spurs‘ offense has arguably gone through Leonard this season now more than ever due to franchise pillars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker getting older. The 24-year-old in his fifth NBA season is averaging 21.9 points per game, which is more than five points higher than last season’s 16.5.
The Spurs hosted the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at the AT&T Center. In the third quarter of tonight’s game, Spurs shooting guard Danny Green led a fast break, which was capped off with a HUGE exclamation point by Leonard:
The game, thus far, has been an incredibly low scoring affair. That play extended the Spurs lead to 51-38 with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The 6-foot-7 product out of San Diego State has freakish athleticism. It’s that raw talent and athletic ability that attracted and enticed Gregg Popovich to trade George Hill for him on draft night in 2010. Leonard made First-Team All-NBA Defense last season and, in 2014, became the youngest player in NBA history to win the Finals’ Most Valuable Player Award after slowing down LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
But even with all of those accolades, Leonard has never made an All-Star Team. That will change soon, real soon.