The lights were usually out at the gymnasium at 6 a.m., so Kawhi Leonard brought two lamps from home and practised anyways.
After all, the 16-year-old sophomore at Martin Luther King High School needed to improve his game if he wanted a college scholarship.
Tim Sweeney Jr., Leonard’s coach at the school in Riverside, Calif., remembers those mornings vividly.
“Kawhi was always finding creative ways to sneak into the gym at odd times,” he laughed. “But it wasn’t just to play pickup. Kawhi was there to do drills and practise his shot.”
Sweeney Jr., who’s coached the King High Wolves since the school opened in 1999, first noticed Leonard when he was playing for the Canyon Springs High School team in Moreno Valley, a 15-minute drive from Riverside.