There have been arguments over the years as to who is the biggest rival of LeBron James. Many believe that title belongs to Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry. But for the last few years, no rival of LeBron’s has had more focus than Kahwi Leonard. The two players are the best players on rival teams; the Lakers and the Clippers.
The rivalry started in 2014, as Kawhi Leonard became the ‘LeBron Stopper’ in the 2014 NBA Finals, and helped the San Antonio Spurs get revenge on the Miami Heat for 2013 and win the NBA championship. Leonard won Finals MVP, and it ended up being the last game LeBron James played for the Miami Heat.
In 2019, Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA championship, defeating another superteam in the form of the Golden State Warriors. Leonard became a free agent after the season, and LeBron James tried to recruit him to the Lakers to form a big three with him and Anthony Davis.
But Leonard snubbed LeBron and joined the Lakers’ rivals, the LA Clippers. He brought Paul George along with him, and the duo was set to bring the Clippers their first NBA championship. But things didn’t go to plan, as the Clippers crashed out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion, and the Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship.
The rivalry between Kawhi and LeBron has gone quiet over the last few months, mostly due to Leonard’s injury keeping him away from the court. But the gap between LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard is quite significant from a numbers perspective, especially when it comes to scoring.
LeBron James has 35,894 career points. Whereas Kawhi Leonard has 11,085 career points. This means that LeBron James has more than three times the career points than Kawhi Leonard, despite only playing for 8 more years than him in the NBA. It is a truly remarkable stat. But one that requires some context.
LeBron has more than TRIPLE the career points than Kawhi 🤯 pic.twitter.com/OK9kdThu9q
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) December 22, 2021
LeBron James has been very healthy throughout his entire career and has played at a consistently high level, even starting almost every NBA game since his rookie season in Cleveland. As for Leonard, he took a lot of time to become a starter for San Antonio, and even spent a significant time on the shelf due to injuries, and even load management across his career.
Leonard has also never been known for his scoring. In fact, his 2014 Finals MVP came thanks to the defensive role he played against LeBron James. But even taking all these things into consideration, it is still shocking that LeBron James holds such a massive lead over Kawhi. And he will only expand the league till the time Kawhi returns.
