LeBron James, Giannis Antetokpounmpo gain separation on NBA MVP Ladder 2.0

There’s no question Kawhi Leonard‘s quality of play makes him a worthy candidate for NBA MVP honors. But it could come down to whether his quantity of play will be enough to satisfy voters he is in fact one of the top two or three players in the NBA.

Leonard has missed eight of the LA Clippers‘ 30 games thus far this season and is on pace to appear in 60 games overall. Were Leonard to win the award, it would be the fewest games played by an NBA MVP in a full 82-game season since Bill Walton of the Portland Trail Blazers appeared in only 58 when he won in 1977-78.

Leonard has topped 20 points in 17 of his 22 appearances and has posted seven double-doubles — six with points and rebounds and the other with scoring and assists.

Since the last ladder was published, Leonard has played in 11 of 14 games, averaging 25.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 30.6 minutes per game on 46.5 percent shooting overall and 45.2 percent marksmanship on 3.8 3-point attempts per game.

His numbers for the entire season aren’t far removed from those — 25.5 points, 7.9 boards, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.5 minutes a night, while shooting 45.2 percent overall and 35.8 percent on 4.8 deep tries a game.

That leaves The Klaw ninth in the NBA in steals and 10th in in scoring, while he is fifth in usage rate at 34.0 percent.