For the last five years, there’s been a slow progress from LeBron James being the NBA’s best player and other young stars coming into his spot. James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant have been great over the last few years, but each is not without their flaws. But one man has gone toe-to-toe with LeBron James and came out on top on more than one occasion. Kawhi Leonard is the man who silently might be climbing to the upper echelon of the NBA.
Kawhi Leonard had battled LeBron James before and famously one-upped The King in the 2014 NBA Finals, winning the title and the NBA Finals MVP award. Since then, he’s been named to NBA All-Star games, All-NBA Teams, and All-NBA defensive teams while also secretly being a low-key MVP candidate. LeBron has given props to Kawhi before but it might not be what it appears on the surface.
But despite Kawhi’s success, there are some who don’t like what the San Antonio Spurs star is doing.
Brian Windhorst and Tom Haberstroh had the following exchange on a recent TrueHoop podcast. Haberstroh was talking about the fantastic season Kawhi has been having. You can listen to the discussion here.
Brian Windhorst: By the way, not everyone in the NBA feels the same way about Kawhi (Leonard) as you do.
Tom Haberstroh: What do they think?
BW: There’s some people who are frustrated Kawhi has gotten as much love as he has.
David Thorpe: I think you’re just telling us what LeBron thinks.
(laughs)
BW: It’s not just LeBron, actually. There’s other top players who feel the same way. Now, I’m not gonna defend their position, because I don’t agree, but I’m just telling it.
I’m sure Leonard’s response is the same as usual. Nothing at all.
