Some people will tell you Kawhi Leonard was built in a lab; that for his first three years in San Antonio he would do drills, endless drills, with coaches on his own, but would be told, if you try this in a game, we will bench your ass. It helped explain why, when he got a bigger role, he seemed something close to fully formed. By the time he got to Toronto, Kawhi was a superstar.
On Sunday night, at the very end of a draining, punishing Game 7, at the end of a hard, physical series, Kawhi was dribbling hard towards the right corner of the floor, and everyone in the building was looking at him, and seven-foot Goliath Joel Embiid was chasing him, and Kawhi sent the ball up.