Post by Rog on Feb 10, 2018 15:58:22 GMT
The 115th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, and fucking finally the last nominee for the 2028 class, is Kawhi Leonard. Leonard is a Hall of Famer, its pretty obvious to all and anyone who has been in the league for a good portion of time. Realistically this is a celebration of his career and achievements, but the question we should be asking and talking about here is whether or not Kawhi Leonard is the greatest player in league history? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
37.3 MPG, 27.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 1.8 TOPG on 47.7% from the field, 88.0% from the line, and 44.8% from three
Best Season
Denver Nuggets(2018) - 30.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 2.1 TOPG on 48.4% from the field, 81.4% from the line, and 42.6% from three
Career Highs
Points: 57
Rebounds: 22
Assists: 13
Steals: 10
Blocks: 5
Achievements
Championships: 3
Player of the Game: 320
Player of the Week: 10
Player of the Month: 2
Double Doubles: 566
Triple Doubles: 3
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Points - 3rd
Rebounds Among Non Bigs - 1st (29th overall)
Steals - 12th
Three Pointers - 5th
Awards
2010 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2010 - All-Rookie Team
2011 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2011 - All-League Third Team
2012 - All-Star Game Participant
2012 - All-League First Team
2013 - All-Star Game Participant
2013 - All-League Third Team
2013 - All-Defensive Second Team
2013 - Playoff MVP
2014 - All-Star Game Participant
2014 - All-League Second Team
2014 - Playoff MVP
2015 - All-Star Game Participant
2015 - All-League Second Team
2016 - All-Star Game Participant
2016 - All-League Second Team
2016 - All-Defensive Team
2017 - All-Star Game Participant
2017 - All-Defensive Team
2018 - All-Star Game Participant
2018 - All-League Second Team
2018 - All-Defensive Second Team
2019 - All-Star Game Participant
2019 - All-League Second Team
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2020 - All-League Second Team
2020 - All-Defensive Second Team
2021 - All-Star Game Participant
2021 - All-League Third Team
2022 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-League Third Team
2022 - All-Defensive Second Team
2023 - All-Star Game Participant
2023 - All-League First Team
2024 - All-Star Game Participant
2024 - All-Star Game MVP
2024 - All-League First Team
2024 - Playoff MVP
2025 - 3-Point Shootout Champion
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-League First Team
2026 - All-Star Game Participant
Arguments For Induction
- Kawhi Leonard is the most decorated player in this decorated class. Everyone take a deep breath, we'll be here a minute. During his 19 year career, Kawhi Leonard played in three All-Star Games, all but 3 seasons he played in an All-Star game, that is unbelievable. He also won a 3-Point Shootout proving he was a fantastic shooter as well. He was also named to six All-Defensive Teams, four 2nd teams and two 1st teams. Kawhi was also named to FOURTEEN All-League teams, four 1st teams, six 2nd teams, and four 3rd teams. And finally he won three titles winning playoff MVP in each.
- I'm just going to start listing things off Kawhi was good at, because frankly its everything. His highest career ranking was his rebounding, where he finished 29th overall but 1st among non bigs. His 8.7 career average also has to be way up there, if not the best without looking. He had 8 seasons over 9 rebounds per game including 2 seasons where he averaged over 11 a game. He was absolutely elite on the boards.
- You don't have a Hall of Fame small forward if he wasn't an absolutely elite scorer, and luckily Kawhi was one of the best ever. His 27.7 career average is probably top 5 of the Hall of Fame nominees, though will be topped by Beal when he retires almost certainly. He had fourteen years, from his third season until his third to last, where he averaged over 25 points per game. Seven of those seasons, eight if you include his 29.9 per game season, were over 30. Kawhi Leonard finished 3rd in scoring, behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
- How about his shooting? Yeah, he was freaking ridiculous there too. He is 5th All-Time in three point shots, taking 8,558 in his career and making 44.8% from three, which is an absolutely elite number. Similarly he shot 88% from the line and had a ton of seasons over 90%. He took about 6 a game, making just over 5 per game. And finally, his line is finished with 47.7% from the field. He took a shot, and he was pretty confident that shit was going in.
- Complete the offensive cycle? He was a good passer, finishing with 3.2 per game on his career. He had eight seasons at 3.5 assists or more per game. Plus he was efficient with the ball, and not just shooting it, he only averaged 1.8 turnovers per game for a just over 1.5 assist to turnover ratio, a good number for an elite small forward witht he volume that Kawhi did.
- Finally, he was an elite defender too. He averaged nearly 3 stocks per game, about the benchmark for elite for a small forward. He had 10 seasons over 2 steals per game and five seasons over 1 block per game. He also was named to six total All-Defensive Teams. Even with just steals and not being a truly elite steal guy, though he had seasons where he nearly as, he still finished top 15 in steals being 12th all time. He also appeared a couple times on the Best Defenders list for Best Per D+Post D.
- Overall, like I said we know that Kawhi Leonard is a Hall of Famer. What I think everyone should want to talk about is whether or not he was the greatest player in league history, in the talk with Josh Childress, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and the current studs of D'Angelo Russell and Bradley Beal. He did everything at no less than a really good level, but most things he did at a truly elite level. Just an incredible player that won 3 titles as the best player period on the team, besides maybe one with Isaiah Hartenstein who had an All-Time Great run in that title. But overall, there is no denying Kawhi's greatness, we're talking about a top 5 player ever.
Arguments Against Induction
- None
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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