Kawhi Leonard may not strike you as the biggest name in basketball today, but it is difficult to look away from his work ethic and his leadership.
Advertisement
The NBA has allowed a wide, diverse range of personalities to display their basketball skill worldwide. However, not every NBA player loves to play basketball with every fiber of their being.
Some of them started playing the sport because they were tall and talented and then stuck with it as a livelihood. Many of them, however, have obsessed over the game and their own craft for decades to become overnight successes.
The very best players in the game have all dedicated their lives to become their best versions on the court. They’ve put in thousands of unseen hours in the gym, fine-tuning every move they try during games.
Kawhi Leonard is perhaps the prime example of a current NBA player building his skillset all career long. The 2-time Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP has played NBA basketball for 10 years.
He’s returned to the court every next season with something new in his arsenal. He added to his scoring average for 6 straight seasons in the NBA. None of this would be possible without a world-beating work ethic.
Kawhi Leonard may speak less than you or me, but he sets the best example
Kawhi Leonard’s teammates and coaches at SDSU saw him go through the grind as he tried to make it in college. They knew he was destined for greatness only because of his incredible work ethic.
Former teammate Tim Shelton notes the following about his attitude in practice:
“He says the most by his actions. He’s probably the only person that I know, that I’ve met, that I’ve seen, that speaks that loudly through his actions.”
“People are like, ‘Kawhi’s quiet.’ I’m like, ‘No, he’s not. Have you seen him work? Have you seen the dude work out?’ Do you know what his routine is over the summer?”
“He always found a way. If he wants to become the greatest, he’s going to find a way. If he wants to get in a gym and work out, he’s going to find a way.”
“He was always in the gym. At night, in the day. You could definitely learn from him. That work ethic can be applied to anything. That was the most craziest thing I saw.”