Kawhi Leonard FAQ: Everything you wanted to know about Board Man

Is Kawhi Leonard a Hall-of-Famer? How did he become a shooter? What’s the deal with “Board Man”? Our Kawhi Leonard FAQ has all your answers.

In just a few short seasons, Kawhi Leonard has moved himself to the center of the basketball universe. He is a two-time champion and two-time Defensive Player of the Year who has somehow also made himself one of the league’s best offensive players as well.

Leonard is also an enigma, eschewing social media and responding to every press inquiry with a robotic flatness. He is ubiquitous and yet unknowable. Luckily, we have answers.

Is Kawhi Leonard a Hall-of-Famer if he retired right now?

This question might give some people pause considering the somewhat unique arc of his career and the fact that he’s on his third team in three seasons. Leonard was a role player for the beginning of his career, not averaging double-digit shot attempts until his fourth season and not breaking 20 points per game until his fifth. He’s also only appeared in 120 of a possible 228 games over the past three seasons because of injury and load management. Because he’s played so few minutes, relatively, to this point, he doesn’t appear in the top-50 NBA career leaderboards for any cumulative stats.

But the answer is an absolute yes because of how high his peak moments have been, and he’s got the hardware to prove it. Leonard has won a title with two different teams, winning Finals MVP both times. He’s also won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards, becoming the first non-big man to win in more than a decade when he secured his first. He’s had signature moments and signature performances in the playoffs. Even if he never played again, he’s in.

What happens if Kawhi Leonard wins a title with the Clippers?

Here’s where things get interesting with the potential evolution of Leonard’s legacy. If he were to win a title with the Clippers, Leonard would become just the third player in NBA history to win a championship with three different teams. The other two are Robert Horry (who was a key role player in each case) and John Salley (who won two with the Pistons as a key contributor and then one each with the Bulls and Lakers as an end-of-the-bench big man).

A scenario with Kawhi leading the Clippers to a title puts him in unprecedented territory, winning three titles with three different teams, as the most important player on each. There is certainly an argument to be made that he wasn’t the most important player on the Spurs for the entire 2013-14 regular-season that led up to their first title, but he won Finals MVP in convincing fashion — averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, with a 75.3 true shooting percentage and superb defense on LeBron James.

He was clearly the MVP of the regular season and playoffs for the Raptors last season. A hypothetical Clippers title could set up an inverse scenario to the Spurs’ title — Leonard is the regular-season MVP but someone like Paul George puts on a big show in the Finals and wins Finals MVP. But regardless of those details at the edges, we’d be looking at something we’ve seen before. If you value winning as the preeminent measure of greatness you could make a plausible claim that Leonard would then be among the greatest in NBA history.

How did Kawhi Leonard become a shooter?

Leonard has become one of the NBA’s most reliable shooters from any distance but that was not the case when he was coming out of college, one of the reasons he slipped to the No. 15 pick in the draft (and was sent to San Antonio by the Pacers, in exchange for George Hill). In a pre-draft scouting report from DraftExpress, Matt Kamalsky noted:

"“Connecting on just 32% of his catch and shoot jumpers and 28% of his pull-ups last season, the sophomore struggled with his consistency from range. As with all players noted for their hand size, there are questions about Leonard’s ability to develop a reliable jump shot. While there is some merit to that stereotype, it will be necessary for Leonard to continue honing that part of his game to the greatest extent possible.”"

In two seasons at San Diego State, Leonard made just 41 total 3-pointers, and at a 25 percent clip. But he improved almost immediately, making 37.6 percent on 109 attempts as a rookie with the Spurs. Nine seasons later, he’s a career 38.1 percent 3-point shooter with a peak of 44.3 percent in 2015-16.

The Step Back’s own Scott Rafferty looked at Leonard’s development a few years ago, with the primary takeaway being that the Spurs had dramatically remade his release. In college, his load-up had him bringing the ball nearly behind his head with his forearm almost parallel to the floor.

The Spurs helped train him to create a more compact motion that had him shooting from in front of his face.

That more compact motion allowed him to get his shot off more quickly and to increase his control and accuracy with the ball.

How big are Kawhi Leonard’s hands?

Enormous. At the 2011 NBA Draft combine, they were measured at 11.25 inches wide. In the 10 years for which we have publicly available hand measurements from the combine, only four players — Gregory Smith, Royce White, Trevor Mbakwe and Noah Vonleh — have measured larger. Leonard is roughly the same size as his teammate Paul George, but his hands are 2.25 inches wider.

Why did Kawhi Leonard want to leave the Spurs?

The short version is that he injured his quadriceps, the team and his management disagreed about how best to treat it and a series of miscommunications and microaggressions (both active and passive) led to a breakdown in the relationship between Kawhi and the team. If you want the nitty-gritty details, SBNation has an extensive and comprehensive timeline.

What’s most interesting about the situation is that the Spurs have, rightly, received so much credit for their culture over the past two decades and the way it has sustained the organization. But, ultimately, it was a breakdown in that culture — not an injury or bad luck or a mistake in player evaluation or poor player development — that proved to be the undoing of their dynasty.

What’s the deal with “Board Man”?

An oral history of Leonard’s days at San Diego State, released by The Athletic in the lead into last year’s NBA Finals, introduced the world to “Board Man.” The story was that Leonard’s trash talk tilted towards the surreal and “Board Man gets paid” was something he’d often say after a big play. When asked about it at a post-game press conference, Leonard had an unsurprisingly staid explanation — it was just a mantra about hard work:

"“I used to say that back when I was in high school and college, just wanting to get to this league. It’s about working hard, outworking an opponent. Rebounds help you win games, big rebounds, offensive rebounds, limiting the team to one shot. That used to be our motto, some of us in college were trying to get to this point.”"

What is Kawhi Leonard’s net worth?

According to Spotrac, Leonard has earned about $116 million from his basketball contracts over the course of his playing career. Assuming he picks up his player option for the 2021-22 season, he’s also owed just over $70 million for the next two seasons with the Clippers. In addition to his basketball salary, Leonard has significant earnings from his endorsement portfolio. He is the primary representative for New Balance’s basketball line, a deal that reportedly pays him roughly $5 million a year.

What’s the greatest Kawhi Leonard meme ever?

Kawhi’s awkward laugh from media day with the Toronto Raptors is a Hall-of-Fame meme. It was inflated to mythic proportions when someone used to recreate the NBA on NBC theme song.