The Case for Kawhi Leonard's All-Star Credentials

Through his first three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard hasn't left the playoffs as anything less than a conference finalist.

All-Star accolades have been harder to come by, however—so far, anyway. When the Western Conference roster's reserves are announced this Thursday, his fortunes may very well change.

In theory.

Unfortunately, his 15.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest may not wow coaches enough to sway their all-important votes. And while his two steals and 0.7 blocks per game could change some minds, so too could the fact that injuries have limited him to just 28 appearances so far. Odds aren't in the 23-year-old's favor. 

Such is life under the selfless brand of basketball head coach Gregg Popovich has installed during the latter stages of Tim Duncan's iconic career. While Leonard is more productive than ever, he's still averaging only 32 minutes per contest—7.5 fewer than fellow fourth-year swingman Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, a virtual lock to make the Eastern Conference's All-Star roster.

The competition out West poses some challenges as well. 

You can bank on James Harden and Klay Thompson occupying a couple of spots on the wing, and Kevin Durant may well join them if coaches overlook the 24 games he's missed due to injury.

Even if there's one more spot for a guard-forward type, Leonard still has to contend with some serious talent.

Player	PTS	FG%	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Monta Ellis, DAL	20.3	45.5	2.5	4.4	1.8	0.3
Rudy Gay, SAC	20.2	44.8	6.0	4.1	1.2	0.5
Tyreke Evans, NOP	17.0	43.8	5.3	5.6	1.18	0.41
Eric Bledsoe, PHO	16.9	44.5	5.3	6.0	1.61	0.63
Draymond Green, GSW	11.7	44.5	7.9	3.5	1.57	1.38
Wes Matthews, POR	16.5	46.0	3.4	2.2	1.11	0.16
Chandler Parsons, DAL	15.4	45.4	4.7	2.2	0.95	0.34
Jamal Crawford, LAC	15.7	40.0	2.0	2.8	0.91	0.11

One could add Gordon Hayward and his impressive numbers to the list if his 16-29 Utah Jazz had a prayer of making the postseason—a factor that will almost certainly weigh against Rudy Gay's candidacy as well.

But there's still a strong case to be made for Leonard's qualifications, even if the most basic statistical metrics don't obviously outshine the alternatives. After missing 17 games due to a torn ligament in his hand, Leonard returned to action earlier this month with 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in a 110-96 win against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

And the numbers were only half of a story that also has a lot to do with his contributions to the rotation's famed chemistry.

"I think that has a lot to do with a group," Popovich told reporters after the victory. "A team feeds off of each other, and he has been an obvious important part of how we do things. Everything fits better together."

San Antonio is 5-1 since Leonard's return, a stretch that's included just one disappointing outing—a 104-81 loss to Chicago. Otherwise, the Spurs have held opponents to fewer than 100 points in each of those five victories. 

That's no coincidence.

When Leonard is on the floor this season, his team allows just 95 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. When he isn't playing, that figure jumps to 103.1 points per 100 possessions—a difference of 8.1 points that goes a long way toward explaining why San Antonio has gone just 9-10 without him in the lineup this season.

An especially difficult December schedule also has something to do with that, but there's little doubt the Spurs would have had an easier go of things had they been at full strength.

Though it's difficult to quantify his value as one of the league's premier stoppers, it's certainly possible the rest of the league's coaches will see what Leonard's coach sees.

Popovich told the media earlier this month:

"

He's our best perimeter defender, obviously. He guards a variety of different kinds of players—point guards, 2 men, 3 men—so he gives us some good versatility defensively. That position is really important to rebound, to help the bigs, and we really miss him there. He makes steals and energizes us. We score a little bit off his defense. So he's a huge factor for us defensively.

"

Sam Forencich/Getty Images

In turn, that also means he's a huge factor in the win-loss column. The Spurs rank sixth league-wide in defensive efficiency, according to Hollinger Team Stats, allowing opponents just 99.9 points per 100 possessions through their first 46 games. 

While San Antonio hasn't exactly replicated the defensive prowess that helped secure the franchise's first championship in 1999, it's been no less essential to a team that's struggled to build upon last season's dominance on the offensive end. The club's 104.2 points per 100 possessions ranks just 12th in offensive efficiency, a fairly notable decline from last season's 108.2 points per 100 possessions—the league's sixth-best mark in 2013-14.

To the extent this is still a team with legitimate title aspirations in an increasingly stacked conference, getting stops has been instrumental. Which is to say Leonard has been essential. 

He remains a quiet and often deferential personality, however—the kind who inspires with effort rather than vocal leadership. Despite his unmistakable two-way talent, Leonard still feels like a complementary player. Even as he leads his team in scoring, there's something very real to the perception that the Spurs are an ensemble phenomena whose synergistic excellence ought not be attributed to any one contributor.

Least of all an up-and-coming addition to the iconically successful Big Three.

Leonard's All-Star argument has more to do with reality than perception, though. San Antonio is 20-8 when he's played this season, and, per NBA.com, his 11.6 net rating (the difference between the club's offensive and defensive rating while Leonard is playing) is tops among all Spurs. Additionally, his 20.1 player efficiency is second only to Tim Duncan's 22.2 on the team, according to ESPN.com.

Bart Young/Getty Images

One could certainly contend that Duncan deserves All-Star attention as well, particularly on account of his remarkable durability in the paint at age 38. But it's difficult to overstate the scope of Leonard's impact, his ability to make an impression inside and outside on both ends of the floor. That kind of versatility isn't just a rarity in San Antonio—it's a skill set that's coveted throughout the Association.

And it comes replete with the kind of consistency that differentiates real stars from their aspirational counterparts.

"My mindset is the same every game," Leonard told reporters earlier this month. "Whoever I'm playing against, I go in and try to stop their best scorer and try to get myself going on the offensive end."

That sounds simple enough, but the results are anything but—especially for the opposition.

As Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo recently put it:

"

To be guarded by Kawhi Leonard is to enter a maze of circus mirrors. Reflections copy your every move, limbs are distorted and stretched to their limits, appearing to envelop you in size. Hands and feet are cartoonishly enlarged and each movement you make comes with a disorienting counter. Before you know it, escaping becomes a singular endeavor.

"

It's probably more art than science, and Leonard's best All-Star hope may require coaches to appreciate his body of work accordingly. If they evaluate the totality of his craft rather than per-game averages alone, his emerging credentials will ever so subtly speak for themselves.