I saved my favorite superhero for one of my favorite players. Kawhi Leonard is Batman. Everyone knows the story of Batman, he is the serious superhero that patrols Gotham City dishing out justice in whatever way is needed. Surprisingly though, few people seem to know about Kawhi Leonard. The kid from San Diego State that has quietly turned into the best two way player in basketball and finished 3rd in the MVP voting last year.
Bruce Wayne had everything that a boy could want, a loving family that happened to be extremely wealthy. However, all of that changes one night when he sees his parents gunned down in front of him in a mugging gone wrong. That moment leads Bruce Wayne to dedicate his life to avenging the death of his parents. Everything he pursues in his life he makes sure that it gets him to where he needs to be to prevent crime. He becomes the peak of human strength, agility, and intelligence in an effort to clean up Gotham City. Kawhi Leonard came out of a mid major college with pure athleticism that many scouts said would help him become a role player in the NBA. However, his shooting and inability to score for himself would prevent him from becoming a star. Taken with the 15th pick, San Antonio did not have to wait long for Kawhi to become a superstar and help the Spurs get to two straight Finals and collecting Finals MVP in 2014. His tenacity on the defensive end, coupled with a much improved all around offensive game including becoming a dead eye shooter from outside have made him a player you do not want to see lining up against you.
Bruce Wayne as Batman is in a way, ruthless. He will do what needs to be done in order to secure the best possible outcome for innocents. He will destroy, disrupt, or attack anyone that he sees as a threat to safety. As some of his best friends, the Justice League are not immune from this and find it out the hard way in the Doom storyline. Villains steal plans that detail for them step by step how to defeat some of the strongest heroes in the world including Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Superman. However, you quickly find out that these plans were created by Batman, who tells his partners that their power makes them risks and in the event that they became evil he was ready to take them out. While Kawhi may not have plans to take out his opponents, he plays with that same kind of aggression without much emotion. He sees other players as preventing him from winning and that is all he cares about. He wants to win, whether he scores 30 or 10, he wants to win and will do whatever he can to win.
Although Batman is a founding member of the Justice League, he has a hard time trusting others and likes to go it alone. This gets Batman into trouble, but he looks at it as protecting them from danger. Kawhi came into the league and was quickly under the wings of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. He has no problem working with others as long as they help him reach his goal. Part of that help for Batman comes from his long time butler and father figure, Alfred. At the end of the day, Alfred can talk to Batman and Bruce Wayne. He can communicate messages that Batman may not want to hear. Batman trusts Alfred and he is willing to hear what Alfred is saying whether positive or negative. In the same way, Kawhi trusts his coach, Gregg Popovich. Popovich's reputation for getting into any of his player's faces is legendary and Kawhi is not different, but Duncan and Kawhi are perfect for Popovich. Popovich once said about Kawhi, "He wants the greatness badly. He doesn't give a damn about the stardom." Sounds pretty true for Kawhi and Batman. Kawhi Leonard is only going to get better and he is already great, but like Batman it is never enough for Kawhi.
(quote taken from Lee Jenkins piece on Kawhi Leonard, https://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/15/kawhi-leonard-spurs-tim-duncan-gregg-popovich-tony-parker-manu-ginobili)
Bruce Wayne had everything that a boy could want, a loving family that happened to be extremely wealthy. However, all of that changes one night when he sees his parents gunned down in front of him in a mugging gone wrong. That moment leads Bruce Wayne to dedicate his life to avenging the death of his parents. Everything he pursues in his life he makes sure that it gets him to where he needs to be to prevent crime. He becomes the peak of human strength, agility, and intelligence in an effort to clean up Gotham City. Kawhi Leonard came out of a mid major college with pure athleticism that many scouts said would help him become a role player in the NBA. However, his shooting and inability to score for himself would prevent him from becoming a star. Taken with the 15th pick, San Antonio did not have to wait long for Kawhi to become a superstar and help the Spurs get to two straight Finals and collecting Finals MVP in 2014. His tenacity on the defensive end, coupled with a much improved all around offensive game including becoming a dead eye shooter from outside have made him a player you do not want to see lining up against you.
Bruce Wayne as Batman is in a way, ruthless. He will do what needs to be done in order to secure the best possible outcome for innocents. He will destroy, disrupt, or attack anyone that he sees as a threat to safety. As some of his best friends, the Justice League are not immune from this and find it out the hard way in the Doom storyline. Villains steal plans that detail for them step by step how to defeat some of the strongest heroes in the world including Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Superman. However, you quickly find out that these plans were created by Batman, who tells his partners that their power makes them risks and in the event that they became evil he was ready to take them out. While Kawhi may not have plans to take out his opponents, he plays with that same kind of aggression without much emotion. He sees other players as preventing him from winning and that is all he cares about. He wants to win, whether he scores 30 or 10, he wants to win and will do whatever he can to win.
Although Batman is a founding member of the Justice League, he has a hard time trusting others and likes to go it alone. This gets Batman into trouble, but he looks at it as protecting them from danger. Kawhi came into the league and was quickly under the wings of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. He has no problem working with others as long as they help him reach his goal. Part of that help for Batman comes from his long time butler and father figure, Alfred. At the end of the day, Alfred can talk to Batman and Bruce Wayne. He can communicate messages that Batman may not want to hear. Batman trusts Alfred and he is willing to hear what Alfred is saying whether positive or negative. In the same way, Kawhi trusts his coach, Gregg Popovich. Popovich's reputation for getting into any of his player's faces is legendary and Kawhi is not different, but Duncan and Kawhi are perfect for Popovich. Popovich once said about Kawhi, "He wants the greatness badly. He doesn't give a damn about the stardom." Sounds pretty true for Kawhi and Batman. Kawhi Leonard is only going to get better and he is already great, but like Batman it is never enough for Kawhi.
(quote taken from Lee Jenkins piece on Kawhi Leonard, https://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/15/kawhi-leonard-spurs-tim-duncan-gregg-popovich-tony-parker-manu-ginobili)