I'm a silent person, Jordan is my idol, basketball is all I have. Leonard said that when asked why he practiced tirelessly, he was standing in the gym at five o'clock in the morning.
Leonard was born in Riverside, California, USA. He played American football until ninth grade under his father, where he played as a security guard and wide receiver among defensive guards, and didn't switch to basketball until ninth grade. Leonard did not have formal training and never considered basketball as a future career.
When he was a student at Canyon Springs High School in California, he wanted to join the varsity basketball team, but his coach refused to let him join the team because his mother was too busy with work and missed taking him to practice. To this end, Leonard approached Marvin King, his coach when he played at AAU, and asked him to help him transfer to Martin Luther King Jr. High School. As a result, Leonard did not begin formal training until his sophomore year of high school.
As a young kawaii, he was not silent as a child, he loved to return to his father's car wash after school and help with the car wash, which was full of laughter. Father would encourage him. And talk to him about interesting things in the car wash. He was also a laughing kid at that time. Although his parents divorced when he was seven or eight years old, their love for kawaii never changed. Especially my father, kawaii has his company on the way to training.
When I was a child, kawaii was very cute. Big eyes. Likes to help others. And with extraordinary concentration. Able to do a variety of shooting movements repeatedly.
What made Kawaii fall in love with basketball was in the nineties, Jordan's comeback to the Washington Wizards, Jordan's space-step dunk. As well as a huge portrait of Jordan on the streets of California and ** is a kawaii favorite. Kawaii's idol with Jordan was also one of the reasons why he turned to basketball. Kawaii has big hands as big as Jordan and can hold a basketball with one hand.
Leonard always has to practice until the end, I want to go home, and I have four kids at home, so I have to ask the assistant to watch him." Martin Luther King Jr. High School head coach Tim Sweetney said, "I also played for his father, who was a high school and college coach back then, and I told him to make sure he had time to come to the arena and see this kid, and he would definitely reach NBA All-Star level." ”
On January 19, 2008, a sad day for kawaii, his father was shot dead by a man wearing a face mask in a car wash. When Kawaii heard the news, he was playing for Martin Luther King Jr. High School against Dominguez High School, and he scored 17 points in the game. As soon as the game was over, he cried, not because he lost the game, but because of his father, who knew that there would be no one to practice with him again, to talk to him after school, and all kinds of happy memories. Kawaii became more silent, and by this time, even his mother began to worry about him.
He practiced more diligently, and embroidered the words "Rest in peace, father" on his right arm. He felt that his father wanted him to make it to the NBA, and he went to the gym every morning at 5 a.m. to practice. He stopped talking, just kept polishing his various movements.
That season, he averaged 226 points, 131 rebound, 3With nine steals and three blocks leading the team to a 30-3 record, he was named California Basketball Man. Led Martin Luther King Jr. High School to an impressive 33-3 record.
UCLA, USC, University of Michigan and other NCAA basketball schools all extended olive branches to Leonard, but in the end, Leonard chose San Diego State because he felt he would perform better there. In his sophomore season, Leonard entered the draft. Drafted by the Pacers and traded to the Spurs.
The real reason the Spurs traded Bobo's love George Hill for Leonard was because of his potential.
Leonard had a pair of terrifying hands, and when the hands were fully open, the straight-line distance from the tip of the little finger to the tip of the thumb was 115 inches (0.)2921 meters), which is reminiscent of Dr. J, who also has big hands. In addition, Kawhi Leonard's long arm helped him grab a lot of rebounds, and the defense also put some pressure on the opponent, and the offensive and defensive effects obviously made his long arm limit James' play in the Finals.
The Spurs at that time also had Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. Several of them made up the dynastic era of the Spurs. But by the time Leonard arrived, the troika had grown old with Duncan. Spurs are especially in need of ** people. The Spurs believe that Leonard has potential and is very similar to Shi Buddha in terms of temperament. It's going to be a big deal.
In his second year with the Spurs, Leonard, who had been baptized by his rookie season, began to break out, although he still didn't have many shots, and focused more on defense. But he still started 57 of his 58 games in the 12-13 season, averaging 31 per game2 minutes can get 119 points 6 boards 11 assist, and by the playoffs, he averaged 13 points per game5 points. Povich once said: "Kawaii never spoke to me, so I don't really know what level of confidence he has. But, when you watch him play, you know that he doesn't have any problems, he just plays and then goes home. ”
Leonard always remembered that night, in the Finals, the sixth game of the Spurs vs. the Heat, the Spurs led 3:2, and in the last thirty seconds, it was Leonard's turn to make free throws, as long as Leonard made all the free throws, the victory was on the Spurs' side. However, Leonard's free throw bounced off the basket and hit one of two free throws, and Bosh grabbed the rebound and passed it to Ray Allen, who made a stunning three-pointer. 3:3 draw, James and Wade played excellent data in the final tie-break, and the Spurs lost the championship.
2015 Leonard receives the FMVP trophy from Russell.
For Leonard, this mistake is like a nail buried in the bottom of his heart, after a year of training, the third-year Leonard was trained by Popovich to be the best defensive player in the league, and the finals were used to defend James, and finally successfully defending James was the most important weight for him to get the MVP, James averaged 28 per game under Leonard's defense2 points 78 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals. Shot 571%, 3 points 519%, after seeing the scoring and shooting rate, many people may think that this ** is prevented, this is completely blown up, and it is not blocked at all, but if you are careful, you can see that James's assists have nearly doubled.
He barely opens his own social **, and he is a little restrained in front of the camera, although he won the championship and was elected FMVP, a tidal wave of praise poured in from all directions. But Leonard hasn't changed, but he still rarely gives one-on-one interviews or attends public events. He's probably the latest of his peers to start using Twitter, with just 11 posts in six months since he started using it.
Duncan's retirement on July 1, 2016 brought the Spurs troika to an end, and Leonard officially took over the Spurs. Leonard has once again completed a super-evolution as he further improves his ball-handling and mid-range jumper. This is the most difficult skill to master on the offensive end of the two basketballs: the ability to hold the ball first can tear through the opponent's defense, and in critical moments, the combination of blocking and pick-and-roll and mid-range is the most effective way to finish the game.
At the same time, Leonard's low-post skills have been perfected, with simple shoulder feints, clean turns, and no superfluous movements, whether it is a turn-to-baseline jumper or a hook to the front. It's not very ornamental, but it's efficient.
Injured to leave Spurs.
The Spurs could have kept Leonard if it weren't for that injury. At that time, the Warriors had a splash combination and began to gradually rise in the league. Under the leadership of Leonard, the Spurs faced the four-star Warriors in the 16-17 Western Conference finals, and the Spurs taught the Warriors a lesson in the first three quarters in the first game, when the Spurs led the Warriors by more than 20 points, but the accident happened, the Warriors player Pachulia did not have timely hands and feet when defending Leonard, and Leonard was unfortunately padded when he landed, so the season was reimbursed, and the Warriors also swept the Spurs smoothly, which was not only a turning point in Leonard's career. It was also a twist on the Spurs. Later, after the injury of the small card, because of the irresolvable conflict with the management and Popovich, Leonard left Toronto. And this injury is also the key to Leonard's difficulty in missing work in the future. It had a big impact on his career.
Ran away from Toronto, and became a god in World War I Vengeance Warriors.
If you say, who is more like the God of War in the NBA, who is more like Jordan. That must have been Leonard, who was almost single-core when he was with the Raptors. Although the Raptors have Lowry, rookie Van Jordan, and Siakam. But when it matters most, Leonard still needs to get more than 30 points to win. It's not easy to get to the finals in the East.
Leonard, who has unlimited rights, can average 26 per game6 points 73 rebounds and 33 assists, helping the Raptors to achieve the second record in the East. Although Leonard has been out for a season after an injury, he has not declined since his return, and his shooting ability has become more consistent, shooting 62 from the field9 percent, up two percentage points from the 16-17 season.
In the playoffs, Leonard once again showed the strength of the top two in the league, and the Raptors first eliminated the Orlando Magic 4-1. Facing the five-star 76ers in the second round, Leonard forcibly dragged the series into a tie-break, and at the end of the tie-break, he put in the first tie-break whistle in history and sent the 76ers home. In the Eastern Conference Finals, facing the Milwaukee Bucks, the Raptors were fearless, and in the case of 0-2, they turned the tables against the wind, won 4 games in a row, and finally eliminated the Bucks 4-2, advancing to the finals for the first time in team history.
Then in the finals with the Warriors, he met the Warriors led by Curry, and the Warriors also suffered injuries. And after the 1:1 draw, the Raptors won two games in a row. The Warriors were in a hurry, and Durant forced a comeback with an injury, and finally ruptured his Achilles tendon. And sometimes karma, Leonard once recuperated for two years because of his injury. Then Thompson's knee was badly injured by Green. The Raptors won the first championship in the history of the Raptors 4:2. And Leonard played the role of a pinnacle.
Ferry back to his hometown of Los Angeles to join the Clippers.
Leonard doesn't want to be in Toronto's cold anymore, he wants to go back home, and all 29 teams in the league want to look forward to his return. He persuaded Paul George to join the Clippers because they were all guys over there. The Warriors' footing, as well as the Raptors' injury, gave him a lot of hidden dangers, and he recuperated from injuries for more than a year during his years with the Clippers.
This year is the final year of the contract, and the Clippers have recruited Harden, as well as Willis. The new season is getting better and better. The Clippers, who have won nine in a row, are standing at a new starting point. The run-in of the Big Four was completed, and the Clippers moved into the top four in the West. Leonard is going to return in the playoffs, will he get another ring?We'll see!!