After a successful 2019 and winning the NBA Finals with the Toronto Raptors, the Associated Press has named #KawhiLeonard it’s male athlete of the year for 2019.
Leonard becomes the fifth NBA player to earn the achievement joining previous awarded NBA greats such as Larry Bird (1986), Michael Jordan who received the prestigious honor three times (1991-1993), Lebron James who was also a three-time recipient (2013, 2016, 2018) and Stephen Curry (2015). The award has been given out annually since 1931.
It was announced Thursday that Simone Biles was the women’s recipient for 2019.
In 2019, Leonard was the NBA Finals MVP for a second time. He also helped lead Toronto to its first championship, just five years after winning a championship with the San Antonio Spurs.
Following a successful season that ended with a championship under its belt, Kawhi ended up leaving the Raptors for the Los Angeles Clippers. Kawhi is no stranger to Los Angeles as he was born and raised in Southern California.
Speaking on his return trip to Toronto earlier this month, Kawhi spoke out about his year with the Raptors stating, “The ride was fun. I had a great time.”
Leonard also went viral during the playoffs after his “I’m a fun guy” quote he stated on arrival in Toronto became a meme as well as a marketing slogan. Following that moment, his “Board man gets paid” line became popular as well. Kawhi also went viral a couple more times this year after social media turned clips of him saying “what it do baby?” and “hey, hey, hey,” into popular memes.
Leonard was also the best player in last season’s playoffs despite battling “an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee.”
Leonard was found at times limping during the playoffs, yet still managed to average 30.5 points and 9.1 rebounds in the postseason and his 732 points in the playoffs ranked as the third-most in any NBA playoff year, the NBA reports.
Leonard scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to bring Toronto past Milwaukee in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Leonard also scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
There was also that time, Leonard made The Shot: the four-bounce-off-the-rim, right at-the-buzzer jump shot from the corner that won the Game 7 against Philadelphia in the second round make it the first buzzer-beater ever in a Game 7.
Raptors coach, Nick Nurse spoke highly of Leonard during the playoff run stating, “without a doubt, the best thing about this thing is that somehow I wound up on the sideline getting to watch this guy play up close.”
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Leonard’s performance during the finals is even more amazing due to the fact that during the NBA Finals, it was revealed that Leonard filed a federal lawsuit against Nike claiming that the company was blocking him from using a logo that he insists he owns.
Miami’s Jimmy Butler also spoke highly of Leonard after witnessing Leonard’s magic up close and personal stating, “There’s a lot of guys that are like, ‘Look, I’m going to find a way to win and in a seven-game series I’m going to get the best of you in the end. But he’s definitely up there. Your respect just grows. Push, pull, whatever he’s got to do. … He’s going to find a way.”
“I’m playing to have fun and try to be the best player I can be. I’m happy with myself and what I have done in my career and I’m just going to keep on from there. It’s not about me being famous or want to have more fame than those guys. It’s about me playing basketball and having fun on the floor,” Leonard said.
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