Who would've thought at the start of the season that Kawhi Leonard -- not Lebron James-- would be the player with the best chance to move closest to Jordan status?
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| What has Kawhi done to remove himself from the Jordan conversation? |
The fact is, Kawhi is the player with the most to gain in this NBA Finals.
A Toronto Raptors loss to a Golden State Warriors team making it's 5th straight finals appearance would be the status quo. A win for Toronto, however, making it's first Finals appearance in it's first year with Leonard as the unabashed leader, would vault Kawhi into the all-time great conversation, rather than the all-time contemporary conversation, which the 27 year-old undoubtedly belongs in already to this point in his career.
The comparisons to Michael Jordan are warranted.
Phil Jackson has said that what seperated Jordan from the greatness of Kobe Bryant was not tenacity, but simply hand-size. Jackson believed that MJ's ability to manipulate the ball in one hand with great control enabled him to have a greater advantage against the defender. Kawhi is definitely built in that mold. Greg Popovich and Doc Rivers, two coaches who have seen a fair amount of both Jordan and Kawhi (Rivers also played against Mike) share the Leonard being Jordan-like sentiment.
To this point in his career, is there anything Kawhi has done to erase himself from the conversation?
Kawhi has a Finals MVP already; playing on a team that had Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. The way his tenure ended in San Antonio was much scrutinized but less than a year later, the storyline is nothing short of an afterthought (unless, of course, you're a Spurs fan). The bulk of the heavy lifting yet remains, but the path is still a worthy journey to embark.
