It is difficult not to notice the San Antonio Spurs this season. With Tim Duncan gone and its two other stars growing old, it is surprising that this Texas team remains formidable in the tight Western Conference.
Gregg Popovich's squad is heading towards a compelling regular season finish judging from the fact that the ball club is only three games behind the league-leading Golden State Warriors. There is no denying that the big reason for their success is the heads-up play of Kawhi Leonard.
The truth is this is the first time that San Antonio is really thriving without Tim Duncan who helped the Spurs notch five championship titles.
With Kawhi Leonard taking over, the team continues to surge, locking up its 20th consecutive playoff berth after a recent win over the Timberwolves. The emerging superstar is logging in a 31.3 percent usage rate which is the highest in his career so far.
Since entering the league in 2011, the former San Diego State standout has already proven himself on the court. He has re-written NBA history by becoming only the third player behind Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon to bag the NBA Defensive Player honors and the NBA Finals MVP in the same year.
As of late, Kawhi Leonard has added another accolade to his name when he became the fourth player in Spurs history to score 30 points or more in 20 plus games in a single season. George Gervin, David Robinson and Tim Duncan are the other names on that list.
According to Popovich, Kawhi Leonard will be a star in the league for a long time due to his hard working ethic and iron-clad mentality.
This season, Kawhi Leonard is averaging 26.3 points, 6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. While the numbers are not really astronomical, what the Spurs forward has shown is good enough to be included in the MVP mix against the likes of Oklahoma's Russell Westbrook and Houston's James Harden.
In terms of Player Efficiency Rating, Kawhi Leonard has 28.68 which is only behind Westbrook's 29.81. However, the Spurs has a higher winning rate with 0.790 compared to the Thunder's 0.556.
Kawhi Leonard joins Golden State's Kevin Durant as the only NBA players who rank in the top offensive and defensive win shares this season.
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