Love or Hate Kawhi?

Love or Hate Kawhi?

August 11th, 2018

Kawhi Leonard recently got half of his wish he submitted to management. Leonard's request to get out of San Antonio via trade did happen but it was not to Los Angeles. Now that Kawhi is out of that situation I think it is time to sit and reflect on him.

In a lot of eyes, at full strength Kawhi Leonard is a top five talent in the NBA. Remember five years ago in the 2013 NBA Finals when Leonard has his coming out party. He caused havoc on both ends against the Miami Heat. The most memorable moment in that finals for Kawhi (outside of not coming clutch at the foul line) in my eyes is a brief moment in game five where LeBron James was at the foul line. Just before he could shoot his second free throw after missing the first, Kawhi Leonard checks in. If you watched the game you know what preceded but if not here is a brief reminder below.

We all know Kawhi to be a NBA Champion, Finals MVP, 2x All-Star, 2x Defensive Player of the Year Award recipient, as well as being the best NBA player with dreadlocks of all time. We can sing his praises all day but the stunt he pulled in San Antonio can not be overlooked.

The Claw essentially forced San Antonio’s hand to deal him after his sentiments of the San Antonio medical team’s management of his injury. Coach Gregg Popovich along with teammates had very cryptic messages for Leonard in his absence. Evidently, Kawhi did not take this lightly.

Nevertheless, Kawhi recently sent out a public thank you to put a close to the situation which displayed a bit of maturity. Kawhi thanks not only his family and San Antonio fans, but he also sent his gratitude to every teammate he had and to Pop. Kawhi even closed out his letter by noting, “While I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my career, I’ll always remember the city and the people of San Antonio!”

Now while Kawhi’s talent is undeniable, we now look at him differently and his character is now in question. Now of course I do not know Kawhi personally, however, I think it is not ascine to loose some respect for Kawhi.

As consumers of the NBA we can all be in agreeance that we want the best product to be on the floor at all times. We spend time and money to consume the league and it is not wrong to feel cheated from this past year by Kawhi not playing. What if Kawhi played against Golden State in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs? Steph was out with an injury and that could have been a more intriguing series.

Now I do not want to assume that Kawhi was not injured the entire season but with a quad injury with no serious structural damage we do have reason to believe that Kawhi might have taken advantage of his circumstance and milked it. However, if Leonard was in fact injured, I do not fault him by any stretch. Nevertheless, if he was healthy and able to play, there is love lost for Kawhi.

So this begs the question: What he needs to do this next season? My simple answer to this is that Kawhi has to be Kawhi. The thing that erases blemishes like this on your resume is simply winning. Winning and solid stat-line. The Claw is set up to do both of those this upcoming year. Leonard got essentially a year to get his body back together and a fresh situation where he is still going to be the number one option ahead of Kyle Lowry.

I predict a great year for Kawhi. It is his contact year so he will have that motivation in his head all year. I think that Toronto will battle for the number one seed all year and ultimately fall in one of the top three slots. I also predict an all star appearance for Kawhi and a top five 2019 NBA KIA MVP finish.

Ultimately, Kawhi needs to win the hearts and respect over NBA consumers this year and he will in fact rise to the occasion. If not we will all point to this as the turning point of his career as well as the respect that we once had for Kawhi.