SI: The Island of Kawhi: Leonard Gives Second Wind to Spurs' Dynasty

Good read :tu

If this piece doesn't make you a fan of his nothing will. What a fantastic read. :tu

Great quotes from all around.

Bummed about Butler even more now. Leonard doesn't talk much but to lose someone you dissected defense over with? That sucks.

Awesome article

Prob the best Kawhi article to date imo

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Originally Posted by loveforthegame

If this piece doesn't make you a fan of his nothing will. What a fantastic read. :tu

Great quotes from all around.

Bummed about Butler even more now. Leonard doesn't talk much but to lose someone you dissected defense over with? That sucks.

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Bonner has some fucking dirt on Pop..nothing to see here..

Outstanding article, gave me goosebumps. Thanks for sharing, we are so unbelievably lucky Kawhi is a Spur.

The cat crew will probably try to get this locked because it's *another* Kawhi thread. :lol

Stop making Kawhi threads :cry
Tony is the head of the snake :cry
What should I do about my cats? :cry

I must have missed any prior reporting that Kawhi had been offered a spot in the 3-point contest but turned it down. Jenkins also hints that Kawhi turned down Team USA a couple of summers ago not because he was worn down by consecutive Finals runs, but because he wanted to work in other ways.

It's been such a joy to watch him blossom through the last five seasons (hard to believe he's already played 5 years) and to imagine what more he can become. That he's done that while maintaining his humility and drive is remarkable. His work ethic is enviable.

The dissection speech:

Butler: "who got George?"
Kawhi: "me..."

The End of the Dissection Speech

There is no cat crew. There's one or two guys who are full time haters the other guys are opportunist trolls.


This article is discussed in the all might janitors thread about kawhi. If possible we could merge the two, but this was indeed a big article and should get its own article. Fwiw I think the dime mag article quoted the si article, or something such. Basically it looks like people are getting curry fatigue and kawhi is way more interesting than curry.

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

I must have missed any prior reporting that Kawhi had been offered a spot in the 3-point contest but turned it down. Jenkins also hints that Kawhi turned down Team USA a couple of summers ago not because he was worn down by consecutive Finals runs, but because he wanted to work in other ways.

It's been such a joy to watch him blossom through the last five seasons (hard to believe he's already played 5 years) and to imagine what more he can become. That he's done that while maintaining his humility and drive is remarkable. His work ethic is enviable.

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Apo....tbh

I already said kawhi was invited to three point line but declined...old news.

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Originally Posted by loveforthegame

Bummed about Butler even more now. Leonard doesn't talk much but to lose someone you dissected defense over with? That sucks.

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I suspect that there was some consultation with Kawhi about the decision. While I doubt that Kawhi could have insisted upon Butler staying, I suspect that if he had any concerns about Butler leaving, those concerns were considered by PATFO.

For all of the complaining about Pop and his decision-making by some fans, he and Buford are remarkably willing -- given their accomplishments -- to listen to input from others in the organization before making decisions. No matter what else you might think of him, there's no denying that Pop is very intelligent and perfectly willing to have his ideas challenged by anyone willing to voice opposition. That doesn't mean the opposition will change his mind, but by all accounts, he does listen to the people he trusts.

The surest proof of that is the fact that he was talked into Kawhi Leonard, sight unseen, at the cost of George Hill.

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Originally Posted by apalisoc_9

I already said kawhi was invited to three point line but declined...old news.

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Agree. Old news I also confirmed this long ago.

Best article I've read yet on Kawhi.

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Originally Posted by K...

There is no cat crew. There's one or two guys who are full time haters the other guys are opportunist trolls.


This article is discussed in the all might janitors thread about kawhi. If possible we could merge the two, but this was indeed a big article and should get its own article. Fwiw I think the dime mag article quoted the si article, or something such. Basically it looks like people are getting curry fatigue and kawhi is way more interesting than curry.

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Originally Posted by K...

Apo....tbh

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Did you forget to switch accounts or are you just talking to yourself? :lol

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Originally Posted by hater

The dissection speech:

Butler: "who got George?"
Kawhi: "me..."

The End of the Dissection Speech

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:lol

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Originally Posted by BatManu20

Prob the best Kawhi article to date imo

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Originally Posted by SupremeGuy

The cat crew will probably try to get this locked because it's *another* Kawhi thread. :lol

Stop making Kawhi threads :cry
Tony is the head of the snake :cry
What should I do about my cats? :cry

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:lmao

What a BAMF

Do y'all seriously have to turn this into another bullshit trolling thread? :rolleyes

Anyways, this was a great read. Definitely the best article I've seen on Kawhi and probably one of my favorite Spurs-related articles of the past few years.

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Originally Posted by BatManu20

Good read :tu

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Thanks for posting. Great article.

Thanks OP! Great read!

:claw

"It is an uncomfortable experience, getting stalked for four quarters by a wide-eyed stoic who betrays no fatigue or feeling." :toast

Living rent-free inside SupremeBurger's head. Smdh. Fat boy had to change his profile pic cause of me, I did that.

As for the article, TLDR

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Originally Posted by SupremeGuy

The cat crew will probably try to get this locked because it's *another* Kawhi thread. :lol

Stop making Kawhi threads :cry
Tony is the head of the snake :cry
What should I do about my cats? :cry

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That rent free thingy

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Originally Posted by spursistan

Bonner has some fucking dirt on Pop..nothing to see here..

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Sandwich hunting >>>> improving defense

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Originally Posted by SupremeGuy

The cat crew will probably try to get this locked because it's *another* Kawhi thread. :lol

Stop making Kawhi threads :cry
Tony is the head of the snake :cry
What should I do about my cats? :cry

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Why go there? Why not just let the thread be appreciation for Kawhi and the article? You are a trolling bitch.

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He often drives a rehabbed '97 Chevy Tahoe, nicknamed Gas Guzzler, which he drove across Southern California's Inland Empire as a teenager. "It runs," Leonard explains, "and it's paid off."

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:lol :tu

"Nothing new here. "

Remarkable young man as well as a premier player. We're lucky to have a front office that saw those qualities and took the risk to take him in the draft. All that said, we're unlucky in that he doesn't open up and have fun with the fans who adore him. His "zone of privacy" may surpass that of Kareem and Bill Russell.

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This winter, after his $94 million contract kicked in, he panicked when he lost his coupons.

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What the hell.... he reminds me of another Spur player... Matt Bonner!

Holy shit we are so fucking lucky.

Spurs fans are ridiculously lucky. It's also amazing how much luck goes into things as well. As much as we not-in-the-know think there is always some master plan, sometimes there are big questions that are unanswered. It's what made me so uncomfortable about the Kawhi trade originally.

But SA did enough to take the calculated gamble. Then they obviously worked their butts off (mainly Kawhi) to make it work. Pretty amazing.

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Originally Posted by ceperez

What the hell.... he reminds me of another Spur player... Matt Bonner!

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wahahaha that true

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Originally Posted by houston spurs fan

Why go there? Why not just let the thread be appreciation for Kawhi and the article? You are a trolling bitch.

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It's the truth bitch. The cat crew bitches about nearly every Kawhi thread made... why don't you go tell them to shut the fuck up and stand up for our best player?

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He retreated to San Diego for an entire summer of three-a-day workouts, some sessions so grueling that he would drop a dozen pounds in a 24-hour span.

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Originally Posted by SupremeGuy

It's the truth bitch. The cat crew bitches about nearly every Kawhi thread made... why don't you go tell them to shut the fuck up and stand up for our best player?

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This is a sports forum, you just asked me to go tell a couple people trolling you to "stand up for our best player." Nobody even negatively responded. You obviously are an idiot with a lot of free time on your hands....

Who are the members of this "krew" you are referring to?

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Leonard earned an invitation to the three-point contest at All-Star weekend, last month, though he turned it down.

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huh, turns out he didn't get snubbed.

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Originally Posted by gambit1990

huh, turns out he didn't get snubbed.

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He was 1st or 2nd (can't remember which at that time) in 3PT FG% at that time. On a team with the 2nd best record in the league.

You really think he didn't receive an invite?

Thanks for posting! :toast

Love RC quote.

great article tbh... :tu

It's not so often that a major media puts up an article about the Spurs that isn't full of tired old shit clichés... but that's one of them. Good job by this writer.

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Originally Posted by houston spurs fan

This is a sports forum, you just asked me to go tell a couple people trolling you to "stand up for our best player." Nobody even negatively responded. You obviously are an idiot with a lot of free time on your hands....

Who are the members of this "krew" you are referring to?

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And yet you're the only one bitching right now. Why does it bother you so much when people call out the cat crew?

As I was reading the article, I was thinking damn this dude is literally Duncan 2.0. Then I saw David West's quote :lol

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Originally Posted by BatManu20

Prob the best Kawhi article to date imo

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He was the baby of the family, minded by four older sisters, who stood in long lines to buy his Air Jordans and prophesied in home videos his athletic feats.

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I think I'd have to hate myself if I was writing sh** like that.

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Originally Posted by Silver&Black

He was 1st or 2nd (can't remember which at that time) in 3PT FG% at that time. On a team with the 2nd best record in the league.

You really think he didn't receive an invite?

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there was never word to confirm that he did.

Great article

Pop loves Kobe so much lmao

I wish we could have seen them together on the same team, they probably would have finished with 8 rings a piece

:claw

Awesome piece

Great article. Thanks for the link.