Kawhi Leonard is one of the rising stars the NBA has to date although injuries have slowed him down. As far as a being leader is concerned, the 27-year-old cager has a long way to go according to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
Leonard’s name apparently cropped up when the multi-titled head coach was asked about the importance of the leadership of Patty Mills. With Kawhi moving to the Toronto Raptors and Manu Ginobili retiring, the burden of leading a retooled Spurs five now hinges on Mills, TV5 ESPN said.
Popovich is fully aware of the talent that Leonard had although he believes that leadership potential is a work in progress. He knows that the 15th overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft will eventually get there as he continues to progress.
Leonard will return to San Antonio on Jan. 3 when the Raptors face the Spurs at the AT&T Center. It will be a curious moment with some fans expected to cheer (and jeer) their once favorite forward.
Looking at his performance so far with the Raptors, Leonard has appeared in 14 games averaging 24.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. The 14 games he has played has already eclipsed his last season with the Spurs where he played only 9 games averaging 23.3 points 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
He has missed only 7 games thus far as the Raptors try to manage his minutes to make sure he is spared from injury. So far, it seems that the trade for DeMar DeRozan has been paying off for Toronto. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the Spurs who are 9-10 over at the Western Conference.
Leonard did react to the criticism of Popovich, branding it as funny. He seemed pretty clueless on the comment of his former coach but made it clear that it does not really matter. His focus is on the current season and nothing else, ESPN said.
Kawhi believes that he is a leader and that he shows it in different ways. And with the way the Raptors are performing, it seems to be working.
"I'm just trying to lift people's spirits up, that's about it. Don't try to get anybody too down, just lift them up," said Leonard.
Either way, Leonard and the Spurs are on different paths now. Popovich is now trying to work with his new-look team while Leonard is simply out there to perform. It remains to be seen if he will stay in Toronto after this year, yet another episode once the 2019 NBA Free Agency drama unfolds.
