Kawhi Leonard Drives a 97 Tahoe, uses Wingstop coupons, Squats 400lbs and studies Kobe's game

[nomoreneveragain]

A lot has changed for Leonard since that conversation with Pop—he was named Finals MVP in 2014, captured Defensive Player of the Year in '15 and this season seized the unofficial title of best two-way player in the NBA—but a lot hasn't. Leonard spends his summers in a two-bedroom apartment in San Diego, where he hangs a mini hoop over one door so he can play 21 against Castleberry. He carries a basketball in his backpack even when he isn't going to the gym. 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."

He is the only star still rocking cornrows, an outdated tribute to Carmelo Anthony, and he shrugs when friends claim he'd expand his endorsement portfolio if he shaved the braids. He is happy to sponsor Wingstop, which sends him coupons for free wings, so he can feed his Mango Habanero addiction. This winter, after his $94 million contract kicked in, he panicked when he lost his coupons. Wingstop generously replenished his supply.

When San Antonio took the championship in '14, Leonard withdrew from consideration for Team USA, supposedly exhausted after a second straight Finals run. 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. He lifted NFL-caliber weight, leg-pressing more than 600 pounds and squatting more than 400.

They started with the corner threes, but they also looked ahead, to a time when his jump shot would be so true that no defender would dare leave him. So they honed the one-dribble pull-up, the Kobe step-through, the fallaway, the shots headliners take. At the 2013 All-Star Game, Leonard sat with Bryant in a Nike suite, deconstructing moves. "He didn't say much," Bryant remembers, "but he asked very pointed questions." Leonard yearned to display his expanding arsenal, but Popovich kept him largely under wraps. The Spurs were playing a long game.

From SI mag: The Island of Kawhi

Spurs hit the Lotto with 3 Franchise players in 3 decades

 

[Malta]

This dude is one in a million

 

[wire28]

This guy is the ultimate player

 

[WaddupDoe!]

real nikkas do real things.

wingstop is fiiiiiire, i have to go at least once a week.

 

[Juggalo Fred]

And shoots 3s at a higher percentage than Curry

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

Mango Habanero

I don't blame breh

 

[YouMadd?]

I respect that he respects the value of a US reserve note. However, coupons for wings?

 

[Malta]

This guy is the ultimate player

He walking around with a basketball in his bag, stay ready

 

[wire28]

I respect that he respects the value of a US reserve note. However, coupons for wings?

You too good for coupons, nikka?

 

[Da King]

:spurs:


and he's not even aggressive yet


plus he got the lemon pepper wangs on deck :banderas1:

 

[Darealtwo1]

I remember when I saw that nikka turning up in the club like crazy with snoop dogg. Dude looked outta control.

 

[smitty22]

Some people just get it

 

[Justise M]

He walking around with a basketball in his bag, stay ready

he probably still walks around with basketball shorts under his jeans

 

[Inferno]

Hawaiian and Cajun at Wingstop

 

[ahomeplateslugger]

i love these articles that SI do on athletes upbringing and life off the court/field.

kawhi is the truth