Miami Heat: How are they ranked so close to Dwyane Wade all-time?
25. Kawhi Leonard
The reigning NBA Finals MVP and leader of the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors basketball team, although now he currently plays in his hometown of Los Angeles, California, Kawhi Leonard has somehow managed to sneak all the way up into this area of the all-time rankings conversation.
With career averages of 18.6 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game, and 1.8 steals per game, he is well on his way to actually earning this ranking from an all-time perspective, and possibly even higher, but not yet. Here is what ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk had to say of Leonard, from the rankings piece.
"Leonard has already played nine seasons, but it feels like he’s just getting going. Leonard won his first championship and Finals MVP with the Spurs in 2014, but that was alongside Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. He showed last season he can carry an entire franchise, leading the Raptors to their first championship. And when the stakes are at their highest, Leonard rises to the challenge, whether it’s his elite defense, Game 7-clinching buzzer-beater against Philadelphia, or winning a second Finals MVP at the expense of the Warriors’ dynasty."
To be frank about it all, he just hasn’t put in enough time yet, as we started to hint towards earlier. Yes, he has won at a high level and on a team and individual level, but he needs to continue to do it.
Dwyane Wade did it at a high level for a long time, has eight more All-NBA team nods, nine more All-Star appearances, and one more title than Leonard does. Not to mention that he finished his career averaging nearly four more points, only about one and a half fewer rebounds, two more assists, and almost an identical amount of steals per game, on only about six more years beyond where Kawhi is at now in his career.
That is why Kawhi Leonard shouldn’t be ranked as close to Dwyane Wade as he is. He rightfully will be one day, or higher as stated above, just not at the moment.