Kawhi Leonard’s injuries have always hindered his career, but they didn’t stop him from winning two championships and two Finals MVPs. He’s not quite the player he’s been at points during his career this season, but Leonard remains one of the best in the league. John Wall became teammates with him in 2022, and he’s got some unique insights into what Kawhi is like.
Kawhi Leonard‘s awkward mannerisms and quiet personality have often made him the butt of jokes for NBA fans. The video of him laughing when he was in Toronto still lives rent-free in the minds of many. He’s like this on the court as well, who can forget the story about his ‘Board man gets paid’ line? John Wall spoke to Bally Sports about what makes Kawhi so unique.
“He don’t talk! He doesn’t talk at all. Mike talks s—. He doesn’t really talk, but he opens up more than most people think he does. He really talks when he’s chilling with the guys, so he’s a lot more open than people think he is. On the court, he don’t say s—. I mean, I don’t want a guy giving me 40, and he don’t talk. I like to hear somebody talk s—! He’s like, “Take these buckets and keep movin’!”
There is something quite intimidating about a star cooking a defender and saying nothing the whole time. And while the personality aspect is very different from His Airness, Kawhi’s game has often drawn comparisons to MJ. John Wall spoke about that as well.
John Wall Explained The Similarities And Differences Between Kawhi Leonard And Michael Jordan
For any NBA player, being compared to Michael Jordan is the highest honor. And how Leonard plays, especially in the playoffs when healthy, has made the comparison make a lot of sense as well. Wall broke it down in a methodical fashion.
“Oh yeah. The midrange is crazy. That s— is amazing! Defensively, how he is just to see him (and) how he gets locked in, it’s like, ‘I want to be great.’ Having a guy like that, we know that we can go to at any moment of time when times get hard is like, OK, you really can’t stop him. He can only stop himself. And that’s how you look at Mike. But Mike was more explosive. Kawhi is more methodical with more of a simple basic game, and he gets to his spots.”
Ultimately, being like Mike means achieving the dominance and absolute success that he did. While Kawhi Leonard will likely never achieve that, his game is similar to MJ’s. There will always be those that find Kawhi Leonard odd or a little weird, but it’s evident that his teammates hold him in the highest regard.
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