Before he captured his second NBA title with the Toronto Raptors, in his final full year with the San Antonio Spurs Kawhi Leonard had an all-time great playoff performance. He had shown incredible promise throughout the year but his first-round domination of the Memphis Grizzlies shot The Klaw into the ranks of the best two-way players in the game.
Kawhi’s gradual rise from a lockdown defender, to Finals MVP, to all-around superstar was far from certain. Even Gregg Popovich told Jonathan Abrams with Bleacher Report that he didn’t expect the drastic growth that the Spurs got from Kawhi.