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Rank each iteration of Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard has been an enigma for much of his career. He has two rings in the NBA championship and has achieved great success that many people did not expect. But his career has some equally unexpected twists and turns that have transformed Kawhi from the silent budding star to a successful superstar.

We have witnessed three different versions of Kawhi Leonard. Classificiamoli:

3 – San Antonio Spurs Kawhi aka “Baby Kawhi”

You know how you feel when you look at an album full of old photos of yourself and you think “Damn I was so innocent then.” It’s a bit like thinking about Kawhi Leonard on Spurs.

The man won the final MVP when he won everything in 2014, but you only know it was still how many notches below his most recent iterations. Knowing what we know now, Kawhi would still have undergone many important changes. NBA puberty if you want.

He still had good memories with the Spurs. At the time, he was still focused on his ’97 Chevy Tahoe and what really worried him was accumulating enough coupons from Wingstop.

This Spurs Kawhi was shared on a Sports Illustrated feature:

“[Leonard] he is happy to sponsor Wingstop, which sends him free wing coupons, so he can feed his addiction to Mango Habanero. This winter, after his $ 94 million contract came in, he panicked when he lost his coupons. Wingstop generously replenished his escort. “

Those were much simpler times for Spurs fans. Ah, be young and full of hope.

2 – Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi aka “Empowered Kawhi”

Without a doubt, the Los Angeles Clippers version of Kawhi Leonard is certainly the most powerful.

Who would have thought that Kawhi of all people would have been to silently orchestrate a trade of such magnitude as to alter the very fabric of the alloy? Leonard slipped into the DMC of the then OKC star and local colleague Paul Cali to join forces in Los Angeles and influenced the fate of four NBA playoff teams.

His departure from Toronto left a large hole shaped closer to the side for which he had just won the championship. Even if the Raptors would fill that hole for commission, I’m sure Leonard’s propensity to take and make big shots in the playoffs time will be missing.

He forced the implosion of the last remaining trace of the original core of OKC. Not only did he steal Paul George from the clutches of Oklahoma City fans, but also from their favorite son Russell Westbrook. The trade prompted them not only to trade PGs, but also Westbrook himself, also altering the fate of the Houston Rockets in the process.

It also pushed the Thunder into a hyper-reconstruction. They got their next franchise piece in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but also a million and one of the projects chosen to bring them to their next era before rather than after.

And of course, there are the Clippers themselves. Many people, myself included, thought that this immediately made the Los Angeles Clippers the surefire favorites to win everything.

Although they are currently only the 2nd seed in the West, Leonard and Kawhi have only played in 32 of their team’s 64 contests. The Clippers also have the best net score since breaking the stars by far. They could still be the low-key favorites assuming they peak during the playoffs.

Leonard and George form a formidable duo of former LeBron James opponents together, and it certainly won’t be fun for any team to face.

Speaking of fun, here’s Kawhi at number 1.

1 – Toronto Raptors Kawhi aka “Fun Guy Kawhi”

The Raptors version of Kawhi Leonard is clearly the best, if only for the fact that it is the purest basketball version of the Kawhi peak.

We’ve seen him sink the hopes and dreams of every existing Philadelphia 76ers fan with four rebounds. We have all seen him throw a 0-2 deficit to the Milwaukee Bucks and absolutely block MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the process. Then he took revenge on the Golden State Warriors.

Although they have been slammed up and down by two of their best players, Kawhi Leonard has shown no mercy. After all, the Warriors didn’t do after Zaza slid her legs under Kawhi’s legs during Race 1 of the 2017 Western Conference finals.

Then he lost the rest of the series, and he certainly didn’t forget to watch those Warriors dominate his team as he sat on the sidelines.

Although it remains to be seen if Leonard will bring the same intensity to the Clippers in this year’s playoffs (assuming he continues to pass), Kawhi’s raw energy during his only playoff run in Toronto will forever be the peak of Kawhi Leonard. .

Bill Belichick, Danny Amendola, Matt Patricia, Patriots, Lions, Trey Flowers

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