San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard is an NBA Superstar

Kawhi Leonard — superstar — is the next generation of San Antonio Spurs basketball

The San Antonio Spurs are the epitome of consistency in professional sports. Gregg Popovich has led the Spurs to 18 consecutive postseason appearances, 16 straight 50-win seasons, five championships and six NBA Finals appearances.

That unparalleled success promises to continue with Kawhi Leonard at the heart of the next generation.

Leonard entered the NBA with very little fanfare as a rebounding hybrid forward out of San Diego State. Many questioned his true position, chastised him for his horrendous shooting, and expressed genuine shock when the Spurs traded rising star George Hill for the enigmatic Leonard.

All of that has become a distant memory.

Leonard has emerged as one of the league’s premier defensive forces. He’s locked down the best of the best, led the league in key statistical areas, and won at the highest possible level.

An enigma no more, Leonard has officially emerged as an NBA superstar.

The Versatility

The San Antonio Spurs are as great as any team at putting players in a position to succeed. Both offensively and defensively, head coach Gregg Popovich is a master of maximizing strengths and masking flaws.

The reality is, Kawhi Leonard has outgrown the Spurs’ system—and that’s a positive for the team.

While always willing to play the role he’s asked to, Leonard no longer needs to be put in a position to score. Previously a transition threat and catch-and-shoot weapon, the 24-year-old has developed into a dangerous isolation player who can operate in the half court.

A prime example of his offensive versatility was his performance against the Atlanta Hawks:

Leonard can score in any situation.

According to NBA.com, Leonard is shooting 54.5 percent on drives, 45.6 percent on pull-up jump shots, 45.6 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts, and 59.1 percent from the post.

Coupled with the powerful athleticism that makes him a threat in transition, Leonard can score with efficiency in every phase of the game. He’s consistently backing opponents down, displaying both a turnaround jump shot and an ability to spin out of the post and attack the rim.

Throw in the fact that he’s the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and his two-way versatility is close to unparalleled.

The Impact

The San Antonio Spurs have built their defense around Kawhi Leonard’s uncanny ability to make elite players look like they don’t belong in the NBA. See: Kevin Durant shooting 6-of-19, Carmelo Anthony going 4-of-17, and Danilo Gallinari, albeit in a lower tier, finishing at 2-of-9.

With Leonard leading the defensive charge, the Spurs rank No. 1 in both scoring defense and defensive efficiency.

Offensively, Leonard is averaging 22.0 points on an obscene slash line of .523/.492/.875. He’s No. 2 in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, No. 11 in scoring average and No. 25 in 3-point field goals made.

Leonard is also No. 5 in Player Efficiency Rating and has the third-best turnover ratio of any player averaging at least 30 minutes per game.

For the new-age fans, Leonard is No. 3 in win shares, No. 2 in defensive win shares and No. 9 in offensive win shares. Opponents are shooting just 35.8 percent when he’s the primary defender, which is especially impressive when one considers that he’s primarily assigned to the opposing team’s best scorer—regardless of position.

Leonard’s, whose average +/- of 8.4 is no. 10 in the NBA, has San Antonio sitting pretty at 14-3 with the most dominant defense in the league and a No. 7 ranking in offensive efficiency.

The Accolades

Kawhi Leonard has never made an All-Star Game appearance. He’s never been selected to an All-NBA team, either. Those two facts suggest that Leonard is nowhere near the discussion of the league’s elite.

Not so fast, my friend.

Leonard may not have those accolades, but that’s the genuine result of bad luck. Leonard battled injuries early in 2014-15, which eradicated his chances of making a deserved first All-Star Game appearance.

In the months prior and those that followed, Leonard earned two of the most prestigious honors in the NBA.

In 2014, Leonard out-dueled LeBron James to lead the Spurs to an NBA championship and earn Finals MVP. One season later, he took the NBA by storm and won the Defensive Player of the Year award—something that no perimeter player had done since 2004.

Those two accolades put Leonard in unique company:

That’s how you earn your $90 million.

Leonard is well on his way to both All-Star and All-NBA honors in 2015-16. It may be early in the season, but his already decorated resume, including a pair of All-Defensive Team selections and being the 2015 steals leader, serve as complements to a blossoming game.

The issue for opponents: that development has been set into hyperdrive.

Leonard isn’t just scoring with Top 15 volume and efficiency, but he’s scoring in, quite literally, every way imaginable. He isn’t just defending at an elite level, but he’s taking on players at virtually every position and locking down the opposition’s primary offensive option—consistently.

Leonard may not be your conventional superstar, but that doesn’t make him any less of a player. Previously a star on the rise, he’s officially arrived.

Next: NBA Power Rankings

Don’t let something as polarizing as All-Star game appearances tell you otherwise.