Since joining the Los Angeles Clippers, talking heads, fans, and voters in the media always built an easy case against Kawhi Leonard winning the NBA's most prestigious award an individual can receive: The MVP Award.
“Kawhi doesn't play enough games.”
“The Clippers haven't won enough games.”
“He load manages the regular season.”
“He doesn't look like he's moving well.”
“It's all about the playoffs anyways.”
Those are just a handful of the reasons that have been used over the last couple of years Leonard's MVP case. And while some of those may have been true in past years, those excuses have no legs to stand on this season. We're 47 games through the season, the LA Clippers are absolutely rolling, and Kawhi Leonard has never looked better or healthier. Let's start with just how good has Kawhi been this year.
The Numbers Behind Kawhi Leonard
Leonard's played in 43 of a possible 47 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 24.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists. 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 2.3 three-pointers per game on 53 percent shooting from the field, 45 percent from three, and 88.6 percent from the free throw line. He's shooting a career-high from the field, from beyond the arc, and from the free throw line while playing a career-high 34.3 minutes per game.
Among players who have taken at least 200 three-pointers this season, Kawhi Leonard (45.0 percent) ranks fifth in the league behind just Grayson Allen (49.6 percent) Kevin Durant (45.3 percent) and ahead of guys like CJ McCollum and Malik Beasley.
Among players with at least 110 catch-and-shoot attempts this season, Leonard is shooting 47.4 percent on catch-and-shoot three-pointers, ranking eighth behind guys like Malcolm Brogdon, Malik Beasley, Kevin Durant, and Clippers teammate Norman Powell.
Among players with at least 95 pull-up three-point attempts this season, Leonard's 40 percent shooting mark ranks fifth in the league behind CJ McCollum, Mike Conley, James Harden, and Jamal Murray.
Here's a look at Leonard's shot chart this year, via NBA.com/stats:
Kawhi Leonard also ranks second in the league in total plus/minus this season (+372) behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+413). He's also played 168 fewer minutes than Gilgeous-Alexander, which includes the frustrating six-game Clippers losing streak where the team was figuring out how to best acclimate James Harden.
Kawhi Leonard's individual net rating of +12.0 is the best in the entire NBA among players who play at least 20 minutes a night.
With Leonard ON the court, the Clippers have a 121.4 offensive rating versus 114.9 when he's OFF. The Clippers also boast a 109.5 defensive rating with Leonard on versus 119.2 when he's off.
That amounts to a +12 net rating for the Clippers when Kawhi Leonard is ON the court as opposed to a -4.3 net rating when he's OFF, a whopping difference of 16.8 points per 100 possessions.
To compare Leonard's ON/OFF net rating with other MVP candidates around the league…
– The Boston Celtics have a +9.3 net rating when Jayson Tatum is ON the court as opposed to a +7.8 net rating when he's OFF, a difference of 1.5 points per 100 possessions.
– The Philadelphia 76ers are 6.9 points per 100 possessions better with Joel Embiid ON the court versus OFF.
– The Oklahoma City Thunder are 10.9 points per 100 possessions better with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ON the court versus OFF.
– The Denver Nuggets are 18.6 points per 100 possessions better with Nikola Jokic ON the court versus OFF.
– The Milwaukee Bucks are 14.4 points per 100 possessions better with Giannis Antetokounmpo ON the court versus OFF.
Team Success
Team success is almost always a major factor in a candidate's case for MVP. From a team perspective, no team has been hotter than the Clippers have been since their starting lineup change on November 17th. Regardless of what multi-game stretch you want to pull from, the Clippers are essentially the best team in the league since December 1st, a stretch of over two months now.
Since November 17th, the Clippers boast the best record in the league at 29-8. Additionally, no other team has a better record at home (14-1) or on the road (10-4) since December 1st.
The team is also 30-13 when he plays this year. That's on pace for a 56-57 win team over an 82-game regular season. Since his arrival for the 2019-20 season, the Clippers are 140-64 (.686) when Kawhi Leonard plays and 74-77 (.490) when he does not play.
The Clippers will enter the weekend of February 2nd, two weeks from the NBA All-Star break, just one game back of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. If you look at the entire league, the Clippers are currently ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in the standings and are just four games back of the Celtics for the best record in the NBA.
And even as the hottest team in the NBA, Kawhi Leonard is still not satisfied knowing that his Clippers have different levels they can get to.
“It’s between our ears,” Kawhi Leonard said on where the Clippers can improve after their win over the Pistons, their 15th win in their last 18 games. “Tonight, we were terrible on the defensive end. We gave up 120-something points. I feel like we’ve just been winning games off of talent, even on the offensive end. It’s a lot of isolation or a lot of slow pace, and it starts with our defense. You can see it on the defensive end; the slow pace, starting off slow.
“We have to see who we want to be and see what goals that we have set for ourselves because I just feel like these last games are just winning based off talent. We need to be winning off execution, playing hard throughout the whole 48 minutes, and then letting our talent take over in the times that we do need it.”
Kawhi Leonard obviously isn't the most social media friendly star or a player you can easily grab soundbites for your headlines from, but the Clippers would not be where they are right now without Leonard's health and stellar play. Ultimately, the Clippers' goal is to win an NBA Championship and anything short of that will be considered a failure. While Leonard's playoff dominance is also well-documented, the MVP is a regular season award and at this point, there are no excuses left for not having Leonard in your MVP discussions.
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