Star Wars Day: NBA stars and their Star Wars counterparts

NBA stars and their Star Wars counterparts: Kawhi Leonard = Boba Fett

Quiet, emotionless assassins. They have a job to do and they carry it out efficiently and dispassionately. They are more capable than most of their peers, and they know it, but they don’t flaunt it. They take on the most difficult marks and they execute flawlessly, earning the deserved reward.

Kawhi Leonard is basically a robot, choosing to bleach his on-court demeanor of emotion and ruthlessly take down opponents, including at the highest levels. That’s why he has two Finals MVP trophies sitting on his mantle. Whatever the locale – San Antonio, Toronto, Los Angeles – his execution in every facet of the game is elite.

There is no better comparison for Kawhi than the faceless bounty hunter Boba Fett. The unaltered clone of Jango Fett, Boba develops into the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter. His beskar armor and variety of weaponry help him to win any fight, and his shrewd tactical ability helps him to avoid many of those fights and track down his prey.

Until the current season, the last time we saw both Kawhi and Fett was in the midst of an inglorious end. Leonard and the Clippers lost a 3-1 series lead and fell in Game 7 to the Denver Nuggets as the entire team appeared to forget how to score and defend: certainly not what you would expect from an MVP candidate’s team. Boba Fett experienced something similar, falling into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc pit to a presumed death.

Now both are back and ready for redemption. Leonard and the Clippers hope to avenge last season’s loss and win the title, while Boba Fett has returned to the place of his ignominious defeat and is seated at the top of a criminal empire. The path forward will likely be a quiet one.