Gilbert Arenas Jumps to Kawhi Leonard’s Rescue as

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Two NBA championships, 2x Finals MVP, 2x DPOY, but still overrated? The criticism against Kawhi Leonard has been quite harsh in recent times. The most recent one to put these accolades into question was Rashad McCants, during his appearance on Gil’s Arena.
McCants stated every time he hears about Leonard, even he is always hearing “2x this”. He, however, highlighted that outside of this “2x this” resume, “you guys gotta forge for him to be in conversation.” The former NBA star further highlighted how the rest of the Gil’s Arena crew is not holding him to the right standards of criticism for going from landing a championship in 2019 to not even witnessing the higher rounds of playoffs.
Meanwhile, Gilbert Arenas stated there was a time he didn’t like Kwahi Leonard because, to him, the Clippers star’s game seemed nasty. However, the former Warriors star agreed once reaching a point where he realized The Claw gets the job done. To this, even McCants agreed, saying, “He’s good. But he’s overrated for the things that people expect him to do.” Well, there haven’t never been many questions regarding the 6x All-Star’s potential. But then why the overrated remark?
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A lot of this comes from high expectations, but Leonard consistently fails to meet them because of his persistent injury issues. Since 2016-17, he has struggled to play more than 60 games in a season except for his last regular season, which witnessed 68 appearances. But even in the last season, the inflammation in the knee limited The Claw to just 2 appearances in the playoff games.
And this was not the first instance that his availability issues affected his team’s playoff run. Imagine being a Clippers fan, holding your breath each season, hoping this will be the year he stays healthy. And then, just when you think he’s back—another injury, and it’s game over. Seemingly, this is what McCants referred to when he called Leonard “overrated” for the things people expect him to do.
The fact there is a looming uncertainty about his availability in the upcoming season as well reflects how serious the concerns are. “Clippers star Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason… The franchise said today Leonard will be limited to strengthening his knee to start Clippers training camp, but team officials are optimistic about his progress,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Tuesday. Its consistent issues like these that have diminished most 2x accolades of the 6x All Star.
The time Stephen A Smith called Kawhi Leonard “the worst superstar” in sports history
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In a fiery segment on First Take, Smith didn’t mince words when he called Kawhi “the worst superstar in the history of sports.” That was a huge statement.
Now, like most experts and fans, even Smith didn’t deny Kawhi’s talent. “The word superstar is applicable here because he is a superstar when healthy on the basketball court,” he clarified. But the ESPN analyst had the same issue with the 6x All-Star that most from the basketball community recently seem to have. Smith drove the point home with some hard-hitting stats.
He mentioned how Kawhi Leonard had missed 15 of the last 19 Clippers playoff games by then. Remember when the Clippers made it to the conference finals? That came without Kawhi, who faced injury before even landing in the Clippers. And since then? The Clippers haven’t won a playoff series. A clear indication that while Gilbert Arenas may be right in his aforementioned opinion but Rashad McCants isn’t completely wrong either.
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Stay tuned for more updates. Join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host, BG12, sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.

web-interns@dakdan.com

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