Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made a difficult distinction recently, saying that Kawhi Leonard wasn’t a “leader” when he played for the Spurs. Popovich’s point is understandable considering recent history: Leonard played just nine games for the Spurs last season, nursing an injury that Popovich and the Spurs seemed suspicious about. By the time Leonard was moved to Toronto in a deal that brought DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio, the memory of much of Leonard’s accomplishments for the Spurs had been eroded. That’s what happens in a “what have you done for me lately” world.
But while Popovich correctly identified the now-retired Manu Ginobili as a leader, along with dynamic guard Patty Mills, it’s hard to say Leonard was never a leader for the Spurs. To refute Popovich, Leonard could simply go over to his trophy case and pull out his NBA Finals MVP hardware from the the Spurs 2014 title. Hard to win a Finals MVP without doing some leading. So Pop’s assessment is doubtless colored by recent history, while also being accurate to a large degree: Leonard hardly provided that overt style of vocal and inspirational leadership that Manu and Mills did. Leonard, typically cool about such things, responded with this (as reported by TSN’s Josh Lewenberg):
“It’s just funny to me. I don’t know if he’s talking about last year or not. I guess when you stop playing they forget how you lead… It doesn’t matter. I’m here with the Raptors and I’m focused on the season and not what’s going on on the other side.”
BTW: Um, yeah, he’s talking about last year Kawhi! Not the year we see below:
