My favorite
player to watch right now is Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. I have
been a basketball fan since the mid 90’s and this is the first time I have bought
a player’s jersey. This should
illustrate how impressed I am with what I am seeing in him. With so many scandals that happen with
players in the NBA I have been burned in the past with selecting a favorite player
so I have been incredibly cautious with this decision. I had to make sure it was the right type of player
for years before committing to getting his jersey. Here are
some of the key lessons to learn from Kawhi Leonard:
Humility
Kawhi
is a team first kind of guy. If you ever
watch interviews with he is incredibly soft spoken and is a man of few words. He is positive but also calls things as he
sees them. He doesn’t act boastful, rude or conceited. He doesn’t seem to be interested in flashing
the money he has after signing a maximum $94 million deal with the Spurs. Although it has been reported that he owns an
expensive car he often drives a Chevy Tahoe that is 19 years old. He says because “it runs and it’s paid off.” He also uses coupons to get chicken wings at
one of the local San Antonio businesses that sponsors him. If he runs out of
coupons he gets upset so they ensure he is well stocked. There is something incredibly refreshing
about that mentality.
Defence First
Kawhi
has been identified as the best two way player in the NBA. When he started with the Spurs they used his
defensive skill set to shut down his opponent. He is often assigned to the best
player on each team they play against and often absolutely frustrates
them. He denies them the basketball and
makes it very hard for them to get comfortable scoring. Coaches often preach “good defense leads to
good offense” and Kawhi’s skill set definitely lends itself to that.
Insatiable Appetite to Improve
Kawhi
Leonard was a sophomore at San Diego State when he was drafted to the Pacers
and then traded to the Spurs. Some would
say that selecting him 15th overall was a gamble. His coach Greg Popovich said he felt nauseous
when they selected him because it was an unorthodox choice. His work ethic and insatiable appetite to
improve has really been something to see.
There
is an elite group of NBA players that belong to the 50-40-90 Club which means
the player for the season shoots 50% from the field, 40% from the 3 point line
and 90% from the free throw line. Players that belong to this club include
Steve Nash, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant and Stephen
Curry. Over the last couple of years Kawhi’s
offensive mentality has really flourished to a point where he is now closing in
on that group. His free throw and 3
point percentages have increased by about 10% each this year alone. When you add that
to his defensive presence he possesses it really makes him such an incredibly unique player
to watch.
Consistency
One
of the most important things that great players need to do is be consistent day
in day out night after night. Kawhi
definitely has shown that level of precision in the last couple of
seasons. He started out with playing
impeccable defense and then continued making his offense presence known in small
ways at first then building further as his confidence as well as skill set grew. Now he is at the point in his career where he
has earned the trust of his teammates and where the coaches have decided to run
the offense through him. In 2014 when
the Spurs won the Championship Kawhi was the Finals MVP. I just can’t wait to continue to see the
heights he reaches in his career.
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