The Spurs lost their opener on Wednesday night to the Thunder, and Kevin Durant scored 22 points, but it was still not hard to come away from the matchup wondering if San Antonio forward Kawhi Leonard isn’t making a push to be considered the NBA’s best all-around player.
LeBron James is clearly tops when he turns it on, but in Year 13 of his career he is no longer going full throttle on a nightly basis. Anthony Davis is another contender, but he does not have the 3-point range of Leonard. Even Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, normally reticent to heap too much praise on his players, said of Leonard “he’s arrived.”
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Leonard had a breakout game offensively, scoring 32 points (career-high, his first time hitting or surpassing 30) on 13-of-22 shooting. More importantly, he limited Durant to 6-of-19 from the floor, and allowed him to score just eight points in the first half.
“He really bothered him with the size chasing him from behind. He did a very good job,” sixth man Manu Ginobili said. “Durant is not an easy guy to guard for sure. Doing such a great job [on defense], and meanwhile on the other end scoring 32, remarkable.”
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Leonard, 24, has already proven a great deal. He was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team last season, and won the 2014 NBA Finals MVP. He also led the NBA last season in steals per game (2.3), and he was third on the veteran-laden spurs in usage rate. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are another year older, and even though the Spurs landed LaMarcus Aldridge this offseason, the Spurs now belong to Leonard.
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