55 Facts About Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Anthony Leonard is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

Kawhi Leonard opted to forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility to enter the 2011 NBA draft.

Kawhi Leonard was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th overall pick before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs on draft night.

Kawhi Leonard subsequently moved to his hometown of Los Angeles and signed with the Clippers as a free agent in July 2019.

Kawhi Leonard attended Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, California, before transferring to Martin Luther King High School for his junior year.

Kawhi Leonard averaged 22.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3 blocks per game that year and was named California Mr Basketball.

Kawhi Leonard led the MWC in rebounding and was named MWC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-MWC, and the 2010 MWC tournament MVP.

Kawhi Leonard was named to the Second Team All-America and left San Diego State to enter the 2011 NBA draft.

Kawhi Leonard was compared to Metta World Peace and Gerald Wallace, and his outside shooting was a concern.

Kawhi Leonard was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers but was traded that night to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights to Erazem Lorbek and Davis Bertans in exchange for George Hill.

Kawhi Leonard wants to be a good player, I mean a great player.

Kawhi Leonard comes early, he stays late, and he's coachable.

At season's end, Kawhi Leonard placed fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the 2012 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Kawhi Leonard was selected to play for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge where he was drafted to Team Chuck.

Kawhi Leonard averaged 14.6 points and 11.1 rebounds during the Finals as the Spurs lost the series in seven games.

Kawhi Leonard was only the sixth player, and the first since Chauncey Billups in 2004, to win Finals MVP in a season in which they were not an All-Star.

On July 16,2015, Kawhi Leonard re-signed with the Spurs to a five-year, $90 million contract.

Kawhi Leonard exited the game with 26 points and sat out the remainder of the series as the Spurs lost to the Warriors in four games.

Kawhi Leonard finished the season with averages of 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game in the regular season, and 27.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals for the playoffs.

Kawhi Leonard was selected to the All-NBA First Team for the second straight year, as well as earning All-Defensive First Team honors for the third consecutive season.

Kawhi Leonard missed the first 27 games of the season with a right quadriceps injury, making his season debut on December 12,2017, against the Dallas Mavericks.

Kawhi Leonard was cleared to play by the Spurs medical staff, but he solicited a second opinion from his own doctors.

In June 2018, reports surfaced claiming that Kawhi Leonard had requested a trade from the Spurs and that he did so after months of tension between his camp and the Spurs stemming from a disagreement over his injury rehabilitation program.

Kawhi Leonard became just the second player in Raptors history to eclipse 40 points in a playoff game, joining Vince Carter.

Kawhi Leonard finished the game with 41 points on 16-of-39 shooting.

Kawhi Leonard put an exclamation point on the conference victory with a huge dunk on Giannis Antetokounmpo that was set up by a Kyle Lowry steal.

Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors into the 2019 Finals on the back of what was being described as an all-time great NBA playoff performance.

Kawhi Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP for the second time, becoming just the third Finals MVP to have won the award with two teams, joining LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kawhi Leonard is the first person to win Finals MVP with a team from each conference.

Kawhi Leonard scored 732 points during the 2019 playoffs; this was the third-best scoring total for a single NBA postseason in league history, behind only LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

On July 10,2019, Kawhi Leonard signed with his hometown team, the Los Angeles Clippers, to a reported three-year, $103 million contract, which included an opt-out clause in 2021.

On February 16, Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA All-Star Game MVP of the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.

Kawhi Leonard played six out of the team's eight seeding games and was eventually selected to the NBA's All-Bubble Second Team, averaging 28.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

In Game 7, Kawhi Leonard performed poorly, scoring only 14 points while shooting 6-of-22 from the field.

Kawhi Leonard suffered a wound in his mouth as a result of his injury, which required him to get eight stitches.

Kawhi Leonard led another comeback while scoring 34 and 31 points respectively in convincing victories at home to even the series.

Kawhi Leonard was ruled out for the remainder of the series with a knee sprain, as the Clippers won the next two games and advanced to the first Western Conference Finals in franchise history.

Kawhi Leonard remained inactive the entire season after recovering from his partial tear the ACL in his right knee.

Kawhi Leonard was 12-of-17 from the floor, 7-of-9 from the three-point range and made both of his free throws in 34 minutes.

Kawhi Leonard missed the last three games of the Clippers first round playoff series because of a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Kawhi Leonard is regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, thanks to his combination of athleticism, size and intelligence.

Kawhi Leonard has developed a versatile offensive game, capable of hitting shots reliably from midrange and 3-point range, posting up his opponents and shooting pull-up jumpers and fadeaways.

Kawhi Leonard is the son of Mark Kawhi Leonard and Kim Robertson.

Kawhi Leonard is the youngest child of the family and has four sisters.

Kawhi Leonard's father was shot and killed on January 18,2008, at the Compton car wash he owned.

Kawhi Leonard insisted on playing the next evening and broke down emotionally after the game.

Kawhi Leonard is the cousin of American football wide receiver Stevie Johnson.

In 2018, Kawhi Leonard reportedly signed a multi-year endorsement deal with New Balance, the multinational sports footwear and apparel corporation.

Kawhi Leonard had previously signed with Air Jordan brand, a subsidiary of Nike.

In June 2019, Kawhi Leonard filed a federal lawsuit against Nike.

In January 2020, after the death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash, Kawhi Leonard revealed that he and Bryant shared the same pilot, Ara Zobayan, who perished in the crash along with Bryant and seven others.

Kawhi Leonard rarely gives interviews and avoids questions about his private life.

Kawhi Leonard has said that he does not actively consume news media or use social media.

On May 3,2021, Kawhi Leonard took to Instagram Live for the first time ever, chatting with high school basketball player Mikey Williams and announced that he will release a hip hop album titled Culture Jam sometime in 2021.

Kawhi Leonard described the project as "merging hip-hop and basketball together".