Welcome to the Kawhi Leonard Era
Tim Duncan has become the San Antonio Spurs franchise player for 19 years. He led the Spurs to become one of the best and most consistent teams in the NBA during his tenure, giving the team five NBA Championship.
But Tim Duncan decided to retire last season, ending his illustrious career as an NBA player. A very talented yet humble guy.
But now that the Tim Duncan era was over for the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard becomes the face of the franchise. And Leonard already embraces this role.
On opening night, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year scored a career high 35 points enroute to a 29-point annihilation of the NBA superteam Golden State Warriors. In Spurs victory against the Sacramento Kings, Leonard once again displayed an amazing performance as he recorded 30 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
With a win on Thursday, the Spurs are now 2-0 win-loss record of the season. And Kawhi Leonard looks like in great shape. He is ready to carry the Spurs franchise on his shoulder now that Duncan has retired.
Duncan's presence will be missed on the basketball floor. But the Spurs look good early on with Leonard as their franchise player.
Dwight Howard getting back to All-Star form?
In Dwight Howard's debut as the member of the Atlanta Hawks, he tallied 11 points, 19 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks in 30 minutes. It seems like Howard is getting back to his All-Star form.
Those 11 points and 3 blocks look ordinary. But the 19 rebounds that he manage to get? Come on. That's incredible.
Howard is considered as one of the best players in the league few years ago. But year after year, his performance has declined. Last season, he averaged a career low at 13.2 points per game.
Now that Howard is in a new team, this might be his chance to rejuvenate his career. As Sports Illustrated said, Howard fits more with the Hawks system because the team is more of a collective rather than a star driven team.
Howard played a great game in his Hawks' debut. But can he sustain that kind of energy on a nightly basis? Can he go back to All-Star form and help the Atlanta Hawks dig deep come in the playoffs this season?
