There are 30 seconds remaining in a tight battle between two of the best teams in the western conference Monday night, one MVP candidate crosses over, pulls up, and nails a huge three-pointer in the grill of another MVP candidate to give his team a 110-108 lead with 25.4 seconds. That’s 37 points for the night. He follows that up by emphatically blocking the other MVP candidate as he attempts to drive to the rim for the game-winning basket.
Who is the MVP candidate who pulls off the late game heroics against his worthy adversary? Kawhi Leonard.
An MVP sequence for Kawhi Leonard. #TheKLaw?? pic.twitter.com/vkNgUFdKxG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 7, 2017
The fact that Leonard does things like this on a nightly basis and is the clear leader and best player on both ends of the court for a team that currently has the second best record in the NBA at 48-19, would in theory mean a whole heap of praise and national media attention as a top-notch superstar and MVP candidate right? Not exactly.
In all fairness, the only two names you are currently hearing that are revered in that manner this season are Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
The 2016-17 MVP race has basically been viewed as a two-horse race from almost day 1, as Russell Westbrook and James Harden have put up historic numbers while leading their teams to success in the always highly competitive western conference.
Russell Westbrook is on track and looks manically obsessed and passionate (the only way Russ can be) about becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 season to average a triple-double for a season. He is currently averaging 31.7 points, 10.6 rebounds (out of this world for a 6’3″ point guard) and 10.0 assists.
James Harden meanwhile is averaging 29.0 points, 11.3 assists and 7.9 rebounds per team and leading his Rockets team to a 44-20 record.
But in spite of all the glitz and glam, gaudy numbers and highlight packages, there is Kawhi Leonard quietly plugging away and keeping a Spurs team elite and championship caliber despite the loss of their all-time greatest player.
Leonard continues to embody the all substance, no frills, bring your hard hat and lunch pale to the office and go about your business quietly, effectively and under the radar mentality that the San Antonio Spurs have purveyed for the past two decades en route to five NBA championships and six NBA Finals appearances.
That is why he is the absolute perfect Spur, but also why he will always be overlooked for his individual accomplishments and passed over for the marketing campaigns and star-making opportunities and adoration that his adversaries receive. I would venture a guess that he wouldn’t prefer it any other way.
Leonard’s stat line of 26-6-3-2 doesn’t elicit the same reverence as those of Westbrook, Harden or even LeBron James and Kevin Durant, but he is just as valuable to his team as anybody in the NBA on a yearly basis at this point, save for LeBron James.
While Westbrook or Harden will be acknowledged for their historic season with a shiny new NBA MVP trophy at the end of this season, as one if not both of them should be, don’t forget about Kawhi Leonard maturing into one of the top 10 players in the NBA on both sides of the ball and the quiet leader of best franchise in the NBA over the past 20 seasons.
