As a 2x Champion, 4x All-Star, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, and 2x Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard’s resume is certainly up there with the best of them.
He’s a premier two-way player (maybe among the best the league has ever seen) who makes a huge impact for his team.
With one more title, in a place where one has never gone before, many think Kawhi will be inserted into the GOAT conversation.
We’ve heard plenty of advocates for Leonard but in an interesting twist, Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie offered an interesting reason why Leonard will never be a part of that conversation.
“Nike is the greatest marketing company in the history of the world, especially as it pertains to the greatest of all time basketball conversation. If you look at all the best athletes that have come through and that people say are in the GOAT conversation, what’s the common denominator: Nike … LeBron, Kobe, Mike … They tell the story better than anybody else.”
I said what I said 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/Yx2nQ9huPo
— spencerdinwiddie.base.eth (@SDinwiddie_25) August 26, 2020
It might sound silly to tie greatness with a certain brand, but there is a noticeable trend when it comes to basketball’s greatest players. As Dinwiddie pointed out, MJ, LeBron, and Kobe all repped Nike, and their stories are some of the most widely known in all of sports. And while Wilt and Kareem never officially partnered with Nike, they did both don that signature “checkmark” logo in their day.
Kawhi Leonard has a deal with New Balance and even as one of L.A.’s biggest names, his journey doesn’t seem to be shared or appreciated nearly as much as the name mentioned above.
It could be because of his rather introverted personality, but nobody really knows how or if it might’ve been different now, with Nike.
It’ll be up Kawhi himself to break the trend and prove Dinwiddie wrong.
