111 Kawhi Leonard Facts That Will Get You Hooping Basketballs
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Kawhi Anthony Leonard is a two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion.
He has won a phenomenal five times in the NBA All-Star Team. Kawhi Leonard is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Kawhi Leonard's position in a basketball team has always been that of a shooting guard or small forward. He is presently signed with the Los Angeles-based team LA Clippers.
His agility on the basketball court is unparalleled, and that makes him one of the top defensive players in NBA history. Leonard's game has a distinctive style that separates him from the other players on the court.
Kawhi Leonard prefers to live a quiet life with his family and friends. He is not really active on social media and keeps his young children away from the media's glare as much as possible. Kawhi keeps a low profile and seldom interacts with media professionals when he is not playing basketball.
Kawhi Leonard has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Kishele Shipley since 2014. They live in the city of Los Angeles with their two children. Their first child was born in 2016, whose name is Kaliyah Leonard. In 2019, it was reported that the couple had welcomed their second child, a boy.
If you like this article, go ahead and check out Michael Jordan facts and Alex Rodriguez facts.
Fun Facts About Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard has a unique nickname, 'The Claw,' in basketball circles. Now you may wonder why people would call him by that unusual name.
It is all because of the size of Kawhi Leonard's hands. Kawhi Leonard is a giant of a man. He is 6 ft 7 in or 2 m tall and has enormous hands and feet.
The measurement of his palms reads 11.25 by 9.75 in (28.75 by 25 cm), which is 52 percent greater than the average human palms' size. It is as if providence itself had brought Kwahi Leonard on the planet to defend on a basketball court.
Kawhi Leonard said in an interview that his favorite food is Mexican, but he also loves to eat fried chicken a lot. At times he eats fried chicken continuously for two straight weeks.
He is always trying to eat healthy food. Yet, Kawhi finds the best taco shop in San Diego, California, and then orders his favorite Mexican dishes on his cheat days.
Kawhi Leonard does endorse a few brands. In the year 2018, Kawhi signed with sports brand New Balance.
The deal was reported to be worth many millions. Before that, he was part of the bandwagon for Nike's Air Jordan shoe brand. Kawhi Leonard has never shied away from expressing his love and respect for Michael Jordan, a true great of the game.
If you want to know more about Michael Jordan and why he is considered a legend of basketball, click on the link that we have shared above.
Kawhi Leonard's Accomplishments
As a senior in Martin Luther King High School, Kawhi Leonard partnered with Tony Shell in a school basketball match to set a state record. His team, the King High Wolves, won the game with a staggering score of 30-3. This win put young Kawhi under the spotlight and got him the title of California Mr. Basketball.
Kawhi Leonard's performance in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) was drawing attention from the big teams from the NBA. In the 2009-10 season of the MWC, Kawhi was added to the All-MWC Team. He also won the title MWC Freshman of the Year and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2009-10 season of the MWC.
Kawhi Leonard played brilliantly in his inaugural season with Spurs, which saw him compete for the Rookie of the Year title. He also got selected for the All-Rookie NBA first team.
These were undoubtedly great honors for a fresh new face at the highest level of basketball. Along with the NBA Championship trophy, Kawhi was presented with the NBA finals MVP award. In the finals, Kawhi had displayed his mastery by having a 61 percent shooting success rate and a scoring average of 17.8 points per game.
Kawhi Leonard returned to his best in the 2016-17 season, and in the process, won multiple NBA awards, including the NBA Defensive Player of the year and a place in the NBA All-Star Team. Although this was his second NBA Defensive Player of the year award, the All-Star spot was his first.
The Toronto Raptors reached their first-ever NBA finals in 2019, with Kawhi leading them from the front. In the third NBA finals of his career, Kawhi put up another masterful performance to propel his team to their first title after beating the Golden State Warriors.
Out of the six games played in the finals, the Raptors won 4 straight games to seal the championship.
Kawhi Leonard has won two NBA Championships as of yet. Since all NBA championship winners get awarded a ring, Kawhi Leonard has two in his possession.
Kawhi Leonard's Timeline
Kawhi Anthony Leonard was born to Mark Leonard and Kim Robertson on June 29, 1991, in Los Angeles, California, where he spent his childhood. Kawhi Leonard has four sisters, all of them elder to him.
In 2008, when Kawhi Leonard was only 16 years old, he encountered one of the most significant personal losses of his life. His father owned and operated a car wash center named Compton in Los Angeles.
One day while he was at work, some crooks fired at him, leading to his death. Even now, after 13 years, the culprits are yet to be tracked down.
A young Kawhi Leonard went to the Canyon Springs High School located in Moreno Valley, California. Leonard took a transfer in his junior year to a new school named Martin Luther King High School from this school.
Kawhi Leonard got himself registered at the San Diego State University on a sports scholarship after finishing high school. While studying at San Diego State University, Kawhi Leonard began his amateur career by taking part in college basketball.
He competed at the national level with his college team, the San Diego State Aztecs, and helped it reach the MWC in his first year.
His team subsequently participated in the National Collegiate Athletic Association but was beaten in the first round. The following year, Kawhi took center stage for his team and led them to win the MWC championship for the second time in two years.
However, he could not see his team make it past the NCAA quarterfinals.
This was a crucial point in Kawhi's amateur career as the NBA drafting committee selected him as its 15th pick of the new season. He decided to leave San Diego State University to fulfill his childhood dream of playing for an NBA team.
Teams Kawhi Has Played For
Kawhi Leonard's professional career began when the Indiana Pacers picked him on the 15th turn of the 2011 NBA draft, but they later sold him to the San Antonio Spurs. He was destined to become one of the all-time greats of the NBA while staying with the San Antonio Spurs.
Kawhi Leonard soon became an integral part of this great Spurs team and helped them to reach the 2013 NBA finals. In the finals, Kawhi saw his team getting outplayed by Miami Heat, who then went on to lift the trophy.
One year later, Kawhi Leonard reached the finals of the NBA again, and this time too, they were facing the same team. This time around, however, Kawhi Leonard gave one of his performances ever to take his team to victory.
The 2014-15 NBA season did not go well for Kawhi Leonard. For most of the season, he was battling an eye infection that made it difficult to see the ball on the court.
As a result, he had to miss out on 15 straight games.
His return to form encouraged the Spurs bosses to try and keep him for a more extended period. So, before the start of the 216-17 season, Kawhi Leonard signed a new deal with San Antonio Spurs, which tied him to the club for another five years.
Kawhi Leonard left Spurs in 2018 for the Toronto Raptors. He would go on to play for the Toronto Raptors for only a solitary season. But it would turn out to be a very successful one for both Kawhi and his team.
Kawhi is right now signed to NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. The contract he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers is reportedly worth 103 million dollars.
It is a 3-year contract, with Kawhi having the option to leave the Los Angeles Clippers after two years. In his debut game for the LA Clippers, Leonard gave a solid individual performance to secure a win over rivals LA Lakers.
With so many records under his belt, Kawhi Leonard is a future Hall of Famer of the NBA.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 111 Kawhi Leonard Facts That Will Get You Hopping Basketball, then why not take a look at Lionel Messi Facts or Babe Ruth facts.
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Master of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies
Srija ChandaMaster of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies
An aspiring media professional, Srija is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mass Communication at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, after completing her degree in journalism. With experience in PR and social media, she has also honed her leadership skills through her participation in a youth parliament. Srija's interests include devouring books, watching movies, and exploring new places through travel.
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