At the NBA All-Star Game,Kawhi Leonard showed the league still r

By Jovan Buha  CHICAGO — During Team LeBron’s pregame introductions in front of a soldout crowd at the United Center and the millions of global fans watching the 69th annual NBA All-Star game on Sunday night, Chicago native and rapper/actor Common characterized Kawhi Leonard in a manner that proved prescient for his special evening. “He may not talk a lot, but on the court, he gives a clinic,” Common rhymed. “A four-time All-Star from the L.A. Clippers, Kawhi Leonard.” While he didn’t have any highlights that will be replayed years from now, Leonard put on a clinic on Sunday, leading all scorers after each quarter en route to a game-high 30 points and the first-ever Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP as Team LeBron defeated Team Giannis 157-155. The award was renamed after Bryant’s passing along with Gianna, his 13-year-old daughter, and seven other passengers in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26. Leonard, who notably doesn’t show much emotion or offer insight into his personal life, admitted that winning the MVP award meant a lot to him during both his on-court award speech on TV and to the media in his press conference afterward. The topic of Bryant’s death has recently drawn candidness out of Leonard. “It’s very special,” Leonard said. “I had a relationship with him. Words can’t explain how happy I am for it. (To be) able to put that trophy in my room, in my trophy room, and just be able to see Kobe’s name on there, it just means a lot to me. He’s a big inspiration in my life. He did a lot for me.” At the league’s brightest showcase, with 24 of its top players, Leonard stood out as the best. On the game’s first possession, Leonard slipped a screen for LeBron James and popped to the left wing, where a driving James hit him with a kick-out pass for a contested 3-pointer over Giannis Antetokounmpo. Splash. From that point on, Leonard dominated with the ruthless efficiency that’s become his trademark and has him firmly in the conversation for best player in the world alongside Antetokounmpo and James. In a glorified exhibition that featured over-dribbling, unnecessary heat-checks and ambitious passes, Leonard methodically found his looks and never forced the action. If he was open, he shot the ball. If he wasn’t, he moved the rock. As tends to happen with him, he quietly piled on the points. “(Lakers coach) Frank (Vogel) just drew up a good play to start the game,” Leonard said. “And Bron with his vision, he’d seen me open and passed me the ball, and I knocked down a shot, and it pretty much went on from there. Like I said, I made the first two. It felt good and kept rolling with it and ended up knocking some more down.” Leonard connected on three more 3-pointers in the first quarter, starting the game 4 of 4 from deep and posting 12 points in the period. He finished the first half withHe cooled off in the third and fourth quarters, scoring only five points on 2-of-6 shooting. His teammates stopped feeding him, and Team Giannis began doubling and shading over after Leonard had cooked them. With the increased defense and competition due to the Elam Ending, Leonard rarely shook free in the second half. But his imprint on the game’s outcome was undeniable — he also added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 20 minutes — and he had already gotten off to such a significant lead over the rest of his teammates in the MVP race that the only thing that could have prevented him from winning the award would have been his team losing and Antetokounmpo likely winning it instead. Leonard’s eight 3-pointers were one shy of the All-Star record set by his Clippers teammate, Paul George (nine in 2016). Leonard typically dismisses discussing personal achievements, but he revealed postgame that he decided to go for All-Star MVP after he started heating up. “I didn’t come in the game saying, ‘I’m going to take that trophy home,'” Leonard said. “I think I came in and made my first two shots and kept shooting and made shots. That’s when I told myself, ‘I’m going to go try to get it.'” Heading into the evening, the primary storyline for Leonard’s fourth All-Star appearance was supposed to be the debut of his new New Balance signature sneaker, “The Kawhi,” which was announced about an hour before tipoff. The All-Star colorway featured a white sneaker with red and blue primary accents, and orange, green and yellow as secondary colors. The most interesting detail is the red WAV audio file along the collar, which is of unknown significance (Twitter speculated it could be Leonard’s infamous laugh). The sneaker will drop in limited quantities in the spring and officially release in the fall of 2020, according to New Balance. But his sneaker unveiling became the ancillary storyline to the evening — though Leonard’s play provided the best press possible for New Balance — as Leonard continued to build his legend. Winning All-Star MVP and outplaying the likes of James, Anthony Davis, James Harden and Luka Doncic — four of the top six or seven MVP candidates — is another sign that the league runs through him until further notice. Over the past 17 months, Leonard became a cultural phenomenon for his matter-of-fact answers and dry sense of humor, signed on to become the face of New Balance, hit one of the most iconic shots in NBA history, led the Raptors to their first championship and his second by taking down Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and the Golden State Warriors, won his second Finals MVP and plotted one of the league’s biggest free-agency moves. He’s as much a power broker as he is a power player — a distinction we’ve only really seen from James over the past decade. With the All-Star MVP, Leonard joins Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to win All-Star MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP. It’s special any time you can be in a class alone with MJ. The only award missing from Leonard’s mantle at this point is league MVP. While speaking with the media postgame, Leonard was asked if he could ever see himself pursuing the award to complete his trophy case. “Yeah, I mean, my mindset is always just to try to make my team the best team at the end of the season, and if I’m fortunate enough to win a regular-season MVP, then I’ll be happy with it,” Leonard said. “I always just want to win championships. I’m not really concerned with the personal goal. So I always just want to play on an MVP level so my team can win.” Leonard has played at an MVP level this season. If not for his injury management, which has cost him 13 games, he’d be competing with Antetokounmpo, James and Harden for MVP. Leonard is posting career highs in points (27.2), rebounds (7.5), assists (5.3), free-throw percentage (89.5 percent) and usage percentage (33.8 percent). All of his advanced metrics are elite. The Clippers are 11.4 points per 100 possessions worse with him off the floor — one of the most notable on-off differentials in the league. And, for what it’s worth, Leonard was the best player in an exhibition game featuring the league’s best, most of whom wanted to win the first-ever Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP to honor the legend they grew up idolizing. Leonard didn’t have any ferocious forays to the rim or emphatic blocks or crisp crossovers, but he had his improved 3-point shooting, off-the-dribble runner and pull-up jumper. He was Kawhi, All-Star Game or not. “I pretty much carry that every year, you know what I mean?” Leonard said. “I’m going to play hard. That’s what I do. I want to go in and win every game. Whatever happens happens from there.”

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