NBA
Kawhi Leonard just did something no NBA player has ever done before
Mat Issa is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Yes, he spells his name with one "t." He's obsessed with NBA history, so much so that he's dedicated nearly two years of research to his two mini-series', "Blazing the Trail" and "The Quest for the Best." Right now, Mat goes to law school and writes about the NBA for The Analyst, Forbes, and of course, Basketball Insiders. His work has also been featured in ESPN, SB Nation, FanSided, Basketball News, ONE37pm, and Raptors Republic. Also, he's a lifelong Spartans fan. Go Green!
All posts by Mat IssaUpdated19 Dec 2023
After an 8-10 start to the season, the superteam Los Angeles Clippers have emerged victorious in each of their last eight games, pushing themselves all the way to fifth in the Western Conference (they are tied with the Dallas Mavericks).
A big reason for their recent success has been the phenomenal play of former two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. When he’s right, Leonard usually looks like one of the best basketball players in the league. But during this stretch of play, he’s taken his game to a completely different level.
An Unprecedented Stat Line
During their eight-game winning streak, Leonard put together five games where he averaged 33.8 points per game on 64.8% shooting from the floor and 94.9% from the charity stripe. In all of NBA history, no player — not Michael Jordan, not LeBron James, not anyone — has ever put up those marks during a five-game stretch (per Opta Stats). As for their entire eight-game run, Leonard is averaging 29.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.3 steals on traditional shooting splits of 62.3/54.8/95.1.
The Best Version of Kawhi?
Ever since they traded for James Harden, the Clippers have struggled to find their footing. But it appears that they have finally worked out all the kinks, and Leonard’s play of late has been the driving force.
On the season, Leonard is averaging a career-high in true shooting percentage (63.1%), he’s leading the team in on/off point differential (+12.1 points per 100 possessions), and he’s tied for second in the entire NBA in DRIP (Opta Analyst’s one-number metric). Of course, the player he’s tied with is none other than Nikola Jokic (Kevin Durant is first).
Leonard may very well be playing the best basketball of his career. And as we’ve seen before, when Leonard is firing on all cylinders, there are few in the leauge who can stop him, especially in a postseason series.
Recently, in their updated top-100 players leaderboard, The Ringer ranked Leonard as only the 17th-best player in the association. But something tells me that if Leonard keeps up his current pace, he’ll be much higher on that list very soon. Much, much higher.
