thelesterlee
In 2019, Kawhi Leonard singlehandedly ended the Golden State Warriors dynasty. After a historic playoff run, you could easily make the case that he was the best basketball player on the Earth. LeBron was an elderly man nursing his busted groin while Kawhi dumped Steph Curry into the bay.
Then Kawhi decided his next great task was to provide legitimacy to the Los Angeles Clippers organization that had existed as the butt of every joke forever. His mistake, however, was bringing Paul George to the city with him.
The tandem got their asses handed to them when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets while LeBron returned to and won the Finals. Kawhi went from the greatest of all time to a complete afterthought. He put on a Clippers jersey and vanished from all national conversations.
This season, Kawhi averaged 24.8 points a game and had career highs in almost every stat including his 51% shooting percentage and 39% shooting from behind the arc. Also had a career-high with 5.2 assists a night passing to guys like Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard.
But again, his name wasn’t mentioned in the MVP conversation for some reason. People forget this man is a straight up killer.
But the legend of Kawhi Leonard was created in the playoffs and it shall be restored in the playoffs.
Let’s fast forward to Game 6 of the Clippers Mavs series where Kawhi put Los Angeles on his back to force a Game 7 back home.
KAWHI LEONARD’S 45 POINTS FORCE GAME 7 ON SUNDAY AT 3:30 PM ET ON ABC! #ClipperNation #NBAPlayoffs #ThatsGame pic.twitter.com/MAjKFXFK6N
— NBA (@NBA) June 5, 2021
The Clippers won 104-97 thanks to Kawhi Leonard dropping 45 points on 18-for-25 shooting from the field.
But we can’t discuss Kawhi’s greatness without bringing up his incredible defensive prowess. Players defended by Kawhi scored just 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting. He also recorded 2 steals.
The big concern everyone had with Kawhi during this Mavs series was his lack of desire to guard Luka Doncic who was lighting the Clippers on fire for 5 straight games.
In Game 6, Kawhi clearly had enough and lived in Luka’s jersey. Here’s what Doncic had to say about Kawhi’s domination:
“[Kawhi] destroyed us. He had a hell of a game. That’s what he does.”
—Luka after losing Game 6 pic.twitter.com/W13Mb1tc0M
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 5, 2021
We just watched the best basketball player in the world have one of the best playoff performances ever while LeBron James was watching from home. Hm.
