Kawhi Leonard makes insane fading circus shot (Video)

The San Antonio Spurs lost their first road game of the season Thursday night, but Kawhi Leonard’s insane circus shot was not to be missed.

Coming into Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls with a 13-0 road record, the San Antonio Spurs were unable to keep their perfect record away from the AT&T Center intact. But it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying, especially on the part of their best player, Kawhi Leonard.

The Spurs would ultimately fall 95-91 at the United Center, but Kawhi was at his best down the stretch, willing his team to stay in the game with timely bucket after timely bucket.

Finishing the game with a team-high 24 points, Leonard had to earn three of them the old-fashioned way in the fourth quarter, making an insane fading circus shot when confronted by two Bulls defenders and somehow drawing a foul on Jimmy Butler in the process:

The basket and eventual free throw pulled the Spurs back within nine with 7:52 to play. In addition to his 10 fourth quarter points, Kawhi also chipped in eight rebounds and five assists for the game, shooting 10-for-19 from the floor and holding Butler to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

When Tim Duncan retired over the summer after 19 wonderful seasons, the Spurs had a natural replacement waiting in the wings (literally) to be the next leader and face of the franchise. Leonard’s quiet, lead-by-example approach is quite similar to that of Duncan, the soon-to-be Hall of Famer who led the Spurs to five championships.

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With a Finals MVP and two Defensive Player of the Year Awards to his name, not to mention finishing second in MVP voting last season, Kawhi Leonard already has some accolades under his belt. The next step will be winning a title without Duncan, which may require more outlandishly tricky shots like this come playoff time.