When we think about the greatest small forwards of time, the first names that come to mind are Lebron James and Larry Bird. Until perhaps last summer, these players were bounds ahead of any competition. However, a new name has entered that conversation – Kevin Durant – a player who has forced himself into the conversation of GOAT small forward simply due to the sheer domination his team has exhibited on the rest of the league. Pundits and fans alike always knew how insanely talented Durant was: A seven foot freak who possesses the handles of a guard, and a shooting stroke that is only rivaled by the splash brothers – a sharpshooting duo also happen to play on Golden State. After watching the first season of Stranger Things, I pondered what the Demogorgon would look like when playing the sport of basketball. I eventually came to the conclusion that Durant was the amalgamation of the demogorgon on the court – he had the long, slender limbs that came with a wiry strength about them. At times last season, he would randomly appear somewhere on the court, and send a shot flying back at the opposition.
Maybe 3 or 4 years ago, there was a question that was posed to many of the media pundits: “Is Kawhi Leonard a Superstar?” I don’t even know how some people can ask that question today. We call Joel Embiid a superstar, Russell Westbrook a superstar, and yet we are unsure of whether to call Kawhi Leonard a superstar. In my opinion, he is the most clutch player in the NBA, and it is not close. He is one of the best defenders in the NBA, despite not quite have quite the defensive motor he did in San Antonio. Drafted as the 15th pick in 2011, he was always overlooked – even by his own team, the Indiana Pacers that drafted and then traded him to the Spurs. Like most non top-10 picks, Kawhi possessed rudimentary skills on offense. However, he had great physical tools with hands comparable to Shaquille O’Neal and a 7 foot 3 wingspan. He was not expected to do much on offense as shown with his NBA comp being Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. It’s been 8 years, and at the moment, I think his legacy could genuinely usurp that of Kevin Durant’s.
If we look at their major achievements, it is surprisingly quite close, even though Kevin Durant has been an elite player for longer (Part of this also makes sense given that he was drafted 4 years prior to Kawhi, and was an instant 20 ppg scorer). KD has 1 MVP, 0 defensive player of the years, 2 rings, and 2 final MVPs. Kawhi has 0 MVPs, 2 DPOYs , and assuming the Raptors do not choke, 2 rings and 2 finals MVPs.
If, we look at their post- 2015 stats, KD and Kawhi are actually very close in terms of scoring. Both are elite 3- level scorers.. Kawhi is extremely strong and can get to his spots and elevate. KD has a better handle, and can shoot over most players as well. Both players are extremely efficient from all areas of the court however KD seems more natural with his offense, which is why I would give him a slight edge in this field. He is probably one of the top 5 scorers of all time, while Kawhi is only an all-time great in this area.
On defense, despite KD elevating his game after joining Golden State, it is clear that Kawhi is still head and shoulders above him in this category. There is a reason that he has earned the nickname, “the Klaw”. He can single handedly take the other team’s best perimeter player out of the game with his suffocating defense. He has sacrificed some of that this season because the Raptors have been in more desperate need of his offense with only 1 all-star, but that minute drop-off brings him down from being possibly the greatest Perimeter defender ever to simply an All-time great defender. KD on the other hand as a long-limbed athlete than can use his length to bother teams. He also is one of Golden State’s best rim protectors because of his elite reach. Even considering his personal growth as a defender, he cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Kawhi Leonard. The only other perimeter defenders that can go alongside Leonard are Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, and perhaps Gary Payton.
I think that the reason that Kawhi has become on par or even surpassed Kevin Durant if he gets this next title is because of the context behind their two journeys. Kevin Durant had all the talent in the world. I would say that after Lebron, he may be the most gifted player ever. When he was on OKC, I personally sympathized with him because the talent was so obvious, but it was evident that him and Russ could not get it done with each other. I think Russell Westbrook is a fairly bad teammate, and he can not lead a team, but that is a topic for another day, However, once KD joined Golden State, I lost a lot of respect for him. Him and Lebron did not do the same thing. When Lebron formed his super-team, they were not head and shoulders over every other team. KD joined an already existing premature superteam that also happened to beat him in the previous conference finals where he specifically choked. Another aspect that turned me against Durant was his behavior on Golden State, which I thought was unforgivable. He showed so much weakness and insecurity – creating burner accounts and lashing out at the average fan who insulted him. Sure…. They won, and that is all good and well. But if they did not, then there would obviously be something wrong with the world. 4 all-stars and no championship? All titles are not created equal. Lebron’s Cleveland championship is worth much more than any of KD’s championships. The same can be said about Kawhi’s championships.
On the other side of the coin, we have to look at Kawhi’s NBA journey. Drafted to a team that rejected him, he was brought up in San Antonio. He was taught how to fix his once broken shot by watching clips of Kobe Bryant shooting. Today, his shooting stroke is one of his best qualities. He was a strong defensive presence on some San Antonio contending teams that were still led by the veteran presences of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. However, in 2014, Kawhi really cemented himself as a top player in the league bringing an end to the Heatles dynasty and winning Finals MVP. One of the main reasons he won was because of the great defense he played against Lebron. He hasn’t looked back since then improving his offensive game every single season. And since 2016, he has become a perennial MVP candidate. He nearly toppled the first iteration of the KD Warriors until Zaza injured him. Watching these playoffs, I just appreciate how much of a silent killer he has been. And it is not like Kobe Bryant where he occasionally takes bad shots, or does something selfish to the detriment of his team. I really do believe that Kawhi Leonard is a cyborg. He can score at will, and singlehandedly stop the other team’s best player. He was jeered at by the media for an entire year because he was seriously injured (we can see lasting effects in these playoffs as well) yet did not say a word. He got traded to Toronto, and carried them on his back to their first NBA finals. There is no question in my mind that he is the franchise’s GOAT even if he leaves this year. He does all of this with a stone face and unwavering will. Before, him not speaking hurt his legacy, because people thought he did not possess the flash that an NBA superstar would traditionally have.
The answer is….. Kawhi Leonard is not a superstar, he’s not even human. He’s just a cyborg whose job is to eviscerate everything in his path. What is Kevin Durant supposed to do? After all, he’s only human.
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