Kawhi Leonard showed early signs of superstar play even during the 2 college seasons he spent with San Diego State University.
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Kawhi Leonard has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier players over the past 8-9 seasons. He first burst onto the spotlight with his effective defense on LeBron James in the 2014 NBA Finals. Kawhi won Finals MVP honors for his efforts that time around.
With Tim Duncan growing older and the Spurs needing a new alpha, Leonard began stepping up. He earned his first All-Star game selection in Duncan’s final season, also finishing second in the MVP race.
By the 2016-17 season, Leonard had cemented himself as one of the 4 best players in basketball. He was having an all-time great run before Zaza Pachulia changed the course of Spurs history by injuring him.
Kawhi got back to his previous levels after a trade to Toronto, arguably even improving his play. His all-time great play in the 2019 playoffs led the Canadian team to its first championship ever.
Since then, everyone has nothing but respect for the two-way force that the Klaw has become.
Kawhi Leonard coined the phrase ‘Board Man gets paid’ in college
Most NBA players – even the unheralded ones – were superstars for their high school and college teams. Kawhi was no different during his time with San Diego State University.
He’d often question coaches about help defense, noting that like him, every teammate should just ‘guard their man’. He was also a notoriously hard worker, getting into the gym and shooting jump shots before everyone else.
Kawhi was also his stoic self during his best moments in play. He wouldn’t talk much trash, but it would be a lot of monosyllabic phrases that he’d often shout out in the moment. ‘Bucket’ was one of those terms he’d often use after making a shot.
But perhaps his most famous shout was ‘Board man gets paid’ – which he’d say every time he corralled a rebound. According to assistant coach Justin Hutson:
“If I heard it once, I heard it 50 times. ‘Board man. I’m a board man.’ That’s what he said. Absolutely. ‘I’m a board man. Yeah, I’m a board man. Board man gets paid.’ He spoke in phrases like that.”
NBA Twitter and Reddit have since immortalized the phrase as it comes up in various interactions.
Can the Clippers win a title this season with Kawhi?
The LA Clippers made a couple of changes at the deadline that are yet to fully sink in. Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland are both contributors who can be real difference-makers for this team.
With Kawhi Leonard healthy, they made a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2021. However, they’ll be faced with a lot of stiff opposition.
The Clippers will likely have to go past 2 teams out of the defending champion Warriors, #1 seeded Denver Nuggets and Kevin Durant-powered Phoenix Suns. It’ll be an uphill task – even more so than usual.
