MVP or Not, Kawhi Leonard is the Best Player to Watch in the NBA

I have a new favorite NBA player.

During my childhood I was an enormous Shawn Kemp and Seattle Super Sonics fan. After he had his falling out with the Sonics and moved on to Cleveland, and later, Portland, I kind of fell off the NBA. I didn't watch it nearly as much. In high school, I got into players like Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson and Paul Pierce.

But, none of those guys held a card to Kevin Garnett. He was my new guy. I loved his tenacity and the pride and joy with which he played the game of basketball. I was crushed when he retired before this season. For the longest time, the longest since Kemp in fact, Garnett was my guy. But, after he left Boston for Brooklyn, I kind of stopped paying attention to him. T

his was when I went to Kevin Durant. I was an OKC fan and I liked what I saw from Durant as a rookie all the way to carrying that team to the Finals. I loved his game and his style. He was a better Dirk, in my opinion. Everyone knows how I feel about Durant now. He left OKC high and dry, has done nothing but complain and make childish comments about Westbrook and OKC, and now he is hurt, making him a non factor in the end of this season.

Today I realized that one guy I have watched with alarming consistency, even when he was in college, is Kawhi Leonard. I LOVE Kawhi Leonard as a basketball player. He is the definition of a guy that lets his game do the talking. He is probably the most quiet dude in the entire league. He is a bona fide star, but no one talks about him because he barely speaks. And, when he does speak, he uses very few words, but they are important and meaningful.

Kawhi Leonard has achieved a lot in his short career thus far as well. First off, he was the best guy on a really good San Diego State team. He carried that team to a deep tournament run, but no one ever talked about him as a game changer in the NBA. He was a good defender in college, but he was an underrated scorer. He didn't have the jump shot yet, but he could get to the rim. Due to his "lack" of an offensive game, he slipped in the draft, but that was a blessing in disguise because he ended up in San Antonio with Gregg Poppovich, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli.

Leonard got to learn from some of the best veterans on the most consistent team in my lifetime. The Spurs ALWAYS win 50 games. It's like death and taxes. I have come to expect it from them. As for the Spurs, I don't like or dislike them. I have watched them a ton because they were my dad's favorite team when he still watched the NBA, but I respect the hell out of them. What they have done in this day and age of NBA basketball is incredible. I was a Sonics fan, turned into an OKC fan, and now, as you all know, I have hitched my wagon to the Timberwolves, even though they have wildly underachieved this year.

Anyway, back to Kawhi.

I remember really enjoying watching him play three years ago when they smoked the Heat on their way to the title. In fact, I really liked watching him the year before when the Spurs blew the title. He was a ferocious defender. He seemed to be everywhere on the court. He was, and still is, the only guy that strikes fear in LeBron James when he sees him on the court. LeBron overpowers everyone else in the NBA, but not Kawhi. Kawhi is strong, not LeBron strong, but still strong and he doesn't back down. When he is out on the court, even though he is quiet, he knows he is the best defender, and that no one will take advantage of him. He is the one and only guy that can guard LeBron one on one in the NBA. That is why he won the Finals MVP three years ago. Sure, he was putting up points, but the fact that he made LeBron a non factor was the sole reason he won that Finals MVP, just like Andre Iguodala 2 years ago.

After that Finals, with it looking like Duncan may play only one or two more years, the Spurs, even after signing LaMarcus Aldridge, gave the keys to the team over to Kawhi. He is the guy now. In his first season as the guy, he greatly improved his offensive numbers while still being the shut down defender that he is known for. He vastly improved his jump shot. You cannot play off him now. He will crush you from the outside if you leave him alone. Then, if you try to play him close, he will scorch you on his way to the basket for an easy 2. He is the guy that the opposing team game plans around when they play the Spurs. I think this is perfect for Aldridge as well. Aldridge is a much better second option, and Kawhi has taken on that first option easily and with authority. Yes, the spurs got run off the floor by OKC last year, but it was not because of Kawhi Leonard. He came to play. He was the guy that stopped Durant, but that left Westbrook to go off. And when he would switch to Westbrook, Durant would go off. He, unfortunately for the Spurs, cannot guard everyone.

This year Kawhi Leonard has taken his game to a whole new stratosphere, without changing who he is as a person. He is a legitimate MVP candidate. He won't win it, Westbrook and Harden are putting up ridiculous numbers, and that is what seems to win the MVP, but man oh man is Kawhi a force in the league. Look at what he did the other night to the presumptive MVP favorite, Harden. First off, the Spurs came back from down 16 against the Rockets, much of that due to Leonard scoring at will. Then, the final 30 seconds of that game was just incredible, awe inspiring basketball from Leonard. To hit that three, with his team down 2, going to his left and shooting it over a 7 footer was exceptional enough. Then, the chase down block was the best chase down block since LeBron in game 7 of the Finals last year. He rendered Harden's layup useless. He sent it back like Harden stole something from him. You'd expect Leonard to be jawing and talking trash after doing this, but he did not change the expression on his face at all. He did all this with that steely demeanor that has made me an enormous fan of his.

Leonard threw himself into the MVP conversation with that performance. He may have taken Harden's spot for me, if I had a vote. Right now, my top four would be Westbrook, Leonard, James and Harden. It has to mean something when the best guy on the most consistent team continues to get better every year and is now the focal point of said team.

Kawhi Leonard is so good at basketball. He just needs to be recognized by the casual fan, not the rabid NBA fan. He is firmly my favorite player to watch and root for in the NBA now. He is so good and so understated and lets his game due the talking. He never complains to officials, yell at officials, mock other players or coaches. He just goes out and does his job. Kawhi Leonard is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. In his preseason basketball writing, Ty had a familiar name penciled in for MVP.  Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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