LA Clippers: Kawhi Leonard’s MVP case a sleeping giant

The 2020-21 MVP race is shaping up to be unlike any the NBA has seen before. No player has asserted himself as the clear-cut frontrunner through roughly a quarter of the season, widening the search to include too many worthy candidates.

Joel Embiid is pacing the top team in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James’ continued defiance of defying father time will never fail to captivate the masses. Kevin Durant has returned from the most devastating injury in all of sports as if he never left. Nikola Jokic is surprisingly close to averaging a triple-double.

Each has gotten their share of early-season MVP consideration across the internet because of two factores. Their numbers are spectacular and their teams are off to strong starts, if not building the proper momentum.

The same could be said of another superstar. Though the buzz for Kawhi Leonard rarely appears to get off the ground, his MVP argument might top all the others, if only we paid it the proper attention.

Whether he’s the favorite or not, Kawhi Leonard is putting forth a season for the LA Clippers that deserves serious consideration in any MVP talks.

Kawhi is averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game, numbers matched or exceeded only by seven other players. None of them, however, can come close to matching Leonard’s efficiency that is on pace to join the famed 50/40/90 shooting club.

So much has been made about the LA Clippers’ lack of a true floor general. While that void remains present at the point guard position, Tyronn Lue has gone in house for an alternative rather than search elsewhere for an answer, which is why Leonard’s assists numbers represent a career-best mark. Yet somehow despite the added playmaking responsibilities he’s assumed, his turnover rate has never been lower.

LA is currently tied for the top spot in net rating thanks to the third-best offense and a defense that continues to climb the rankings. The Clippers are 12th on defense this season, but they’re fourth over their last 10 games in which they’ve gone 9-1.

Of course, Kawhi’s lack of MVP hardware has never been about the resume compiled through individual greatness and overall team success, the foundation to any MVP-worthy campaign. He’s had both in the last two seasons — the No. 2 seed in Toronto and LA with combined averages of 26.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game — and hasn’t finished higher than fifth in the voting.

Leonard is never going to tug on the heartstrings of voters by taking the precautionary route and sitting out all those games, no matter how necessary they may be for him to focus on the ultimate prize.

Just six players have ever won MVP honors playing fewer than 70 games. Only Bill Walton in 1978 played in a season that even had more than 70 games to play.

As he only ages forward with greater mileage accrued, Leonard’s load management wasn’t expected to begin trending in the direction of playing more games, but the early returns of this season indicate as much.

The only four games Kawhi has missed so far this season can be attributed to a facial laceration suffered on Christmas and COVID-19 protocols — he missed two games for each. He played in back-to-back games for the first time since April 2017 and has indicated that more instances are in store.

“I mean, I think I’ll be playing, pretty much,” Leonard said when asked about participating in consecutive games after he did so against the Spurs and Warriors in early January. “The last few years, I was injured, and I worked on getting my leg stronger, and it’s been a long time. But I was patient, and I’m able to play.”

Kawhi never really gave the indication that he cared about contending for the MVP trophy. Or better worded, the desire for the league’s highest regular-season individual honor never usurped that which would help him win more championships.

When it came time to make a case, his sitting out of games did all the talking. We accepted that trade-off, allowing the autopilot function to filter out whatever flimsy argument a Player of the Week honor or national television victory might’ve otherwise indicated knowing it wouldn’t hold up within a full body of work littered with holes.

This isn’t to imply that Leonard’s participation in back-to-back sets indicates a priority change. But load management was the only legitimate gripe anyone could have against his candidacy, which is why its absence is taking a bit longer to process than it should.

When this new reality hits, its contents will become clearer.

Kawhi Leonard is arguably the MVP favorite. But at the very least, he should be a greater factor in the discussion. The best player on the best team typically is, and there’s no reason to stop now.