9781422272008

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Anthony Davis James Harden Kawhi Leonard LeBron James Stephen Curry

Chris Paul Giannis Antetokounmpo Kevin Durant Paul George RussellWestbrook

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HARDWOOD GREATS: PRO BASKETBALL’S BEST PLAYERS

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Greg Bach

MASON CREST PHILADELPHIA MIAMI

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Mason Crest PO Box 221876 Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free)

Copyright © 2022 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4612-2 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4610-8 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7200-8

Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

Developed and Produced by National Highlights, Inc. Editor: Andrew Luke Interior and cover design: Annalisa Gumbrecht, Studio Gumbrecht Production: Michelle Luke

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HARDWOOD GREATS: PRO BASKETBALL’S BEST PLAYERS

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Greatest Moments ����������7 Chapter 2: The Road to the Top. ��� 23 Chapter 3: On the COURT ����������������� 37 Chapter 4: Words Count ��������������� 53 Chapter 5: Off the COURT ����������������� 65

Series Glossary of KEY Terms ��������74 Further Reading & INTERNET RESOURCES ������������������������������������������� 76 Index ������������������������������������������������������77 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY & CREDITS ������ 80

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words to understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing themwith additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sportsmoments, andmuchmore! Text-dependent questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series glossary of key terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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CONTENTS

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND contingent: A group of people united by some common feature, forming part of a larger group miffed: Annoyed; displeased pantheon: A group of particularly respected, famous, or important people stymied: Prevent or hinder the progress of tenacity: The quality of being very determined; persistent

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Chapter 1

Greatest Moments Legend Blooms in Springtime In today’s National Basketball Association (NBA), filled with flashy plays and look-at-me personalities, it was the quiet and humble Kawhi Leonard who orchestrated one of the greatest postseason runs in league history in 2019. It began with his impossible-to-believe, fadeaway buzzer-beater from the corner in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. That basket shoved Philadelphia out of the playoffs in the second round and instantly became one of the greatest shots in playoff history. It culminated with Leonard hauling his Toronto Raptors all the way to the NBA Finals, territory it had never traversed in franchise history, where the Raptors dethroned the mighty three-time champion Golden State Warriors in a six-game series where his play dripped with greatness. Leonard won his second award as Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Finals. He is just the 12 th player in NBA history to win the award on multiple occasions. The six feet seven inches tall small forward joined a pantheon of first-name

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Leonard won his first NBA championship playing for San Antonio in 2014.

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legends—Magic, Kobe, Michael, Shaq, and Hakeem, among others—who have done so. Leonard won it for the first time in 2014, where he strung together a spectacular stretch of games to lead San Antonio past an All-Star laden Miami Heat roster. The Klaw: Big Hands, Big-Time Performer Ruthlessly efficient at both ends of the floor, Leonard has that knack that all the great ones possess for somehow raising their play in the biggest moments. Known as “The Klaw” (for his large hands), he uses his monster mitts to handle the ball like it’s a grapefruit. Leonard can score by slicing to the rim, posting up around the paint, or knocking down a long-range shot. A five-time All-Star, and twice the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, he loves defending and routinely sabotages the shooting percentages of some of the game’s best marksmen with his lockdown coverage. Taken 15 th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by Indiana, which then sent him to San Antonio, general managers around the league are still miffed that they somehow passed on selecting this likely Hall of Famer. After spending seven seasons in San Antonio, Leonard requested a trade when his relationship with the team became fractured over the handling of a right quad injury that limited him to nine games during the 2017–2018 season. The biggest star on the court during the 2019 season with the Toronto Raptors, Leonard was the league’s biggest newsmaker even during the offseason, when he chose to bid farewell to a country that cherished him and return to his Southern California roots by signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now settled in with another franchise that has never won an NBA title, one of the true greats of the game has his sights lasered in on making more history.

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Chapter 1: Greatest Moments

LEONARD’S Greatest Career Moments

Here is a list of some of the career firsts and greatest achievements during his time in NBA:

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Leonard is an excellent free throw shooter, hitting more than 85% of his career attempts.

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The Shot In the NBA’s glorious history of nail-biting, heart-thumping Game sevens, there had never been a buzzer-beater to decide a playoff series, until Kawhi Leonard sank one of the most dramatic shots of all time to sling Toronto into the Eastern Conference Finals. With Toronto and Philadelphia tied at 90 with 4.2 seconds remaining, Leonard received the inbounds pass at the top of the three-point arc, dribbled to his right into the corner, and somehow lofted a shot over the outstretched hand of seven-foot center Joel Embiid that bounced around on the rim for what seemed like an eternity before tumbling through the net and sending the entire city of Toronto into bedlam. The shot capped off a special fourth quarter by Leonard, who scored 15 out of his team’s 25 points during those final 12 minutes of action, finishing with a game-high 41 points. But it’s those last two points that fans of the Raptors will never forget.

Kawhi Leonard sinks an incredible game-winner at the buzzer in Game 7 of Toronto’s playoff series with the

Philadelphia 76ers in 2019.

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Wins 2014 Finals MVP Award

When San Antonio found itself in a 1–1 standoff against Miami in the 2014 NBA Finals—with the next two games in South Florida and momentum on the Heat’s side—it was a 22-year-old Kawhi Leonard who willed them to a championship. On a roster filled with proven playoff performers, notably Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, it was Leonard sinking the biggest shots and corralling the key rebounds. In a series-swinging 111–92 Game 3 win, Leonard buried a career-high 29 points, shooting a sizzling 10 of 13 from the field. He also rattled LeBron James with his defensive tenacity , forcing seven turnovers and blocking two shots. He carried his spectacular play into Game 4, where he had team highs in points (20) and rebounds (14) in the 107–86 win, and he scored 22 points in the title-clinching Game 5 win on his way to securing the Finals MVP award.

Kawhi Leonard receives the 2014 Finals MVP trophy, where he averaged 17.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in the series, leading San Antonio past Miami 4–1.

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Scores Career-High 45 Points Kawhi Leonard rang in the 2019 new year the same way he closed out 2018—on a scorching shooting spree. Leonard knocked down 16 of 22 shots from the field, and 13 of 17 from the free throw line, on his way to deliver a career-high 45 points in a 122–116 win over the Utah Jazz on New Year’s Day at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. His previous career high was 41 points with the San Antonio Spurs in a 118–115 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2017, which was the only other time he had broken the 40-point barrier in his NBA career. Heading into the contest with the Jazz, he had settled into a nice shooting groove, as two nights earlier he went for a game-high 27 points in a win over Chicago; and in the two games prior to that he had scored a combined 51 points.

Kawhi Leonard scored a career- high 45 points in Toronto’s win against the Utah Jazz on New Year’s Day 2019.

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Wins Second Straight Defensive Player of the Year Award When Kawhi Leonard started out in basketball as a young player in Southern California, he was one of those rare kids who found joy in the defensive elements of the game. That passion for disrupting offenses, altering players’ shots, and making getting to the rim a difficult proposition for opponents has stayed with him throughout his NBA career—much to the dismay of numerous stars throughout the league who have been stymied by his defensive greatness. Leonard won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015, a season in which he led the league in steals by averaging more than two per game. He followed that up a season later by winning the award again, becoming the first non-center to win back-to-back awards since Dennis Rodman did so with the Detroit Pistons in 1989–1990 and 1990–1991. It also marked the second straight season that he beat out Golden State’s Draymond Green for the award.

Kawhi Leonard won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the second straight time in 2016, the first non-center to win it back-to-back since Dennis Rodman in the early 1990s.

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New King in Los Angeles: Makes Clippers Debut For the first time in their remarkable careers, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James share a city (Los Angeles) and an arena (the Clippers and Lakers both play their home games at the Staples Center), but on the opening night of the 2019–2020 NBA season the title of King of Los Angeles clearly belonged in Leonard’s court. Making his much-anticipated debut with the Los Angeles Clippers—in front of family, friends, and a huge media contingent —Leonard proceeded to score a game-high 30 points to lead the Clippers past the James- led Los Angeles Lakers 112–102. During the game-deciding fourth quarter, Leonard’s seven points were better than James and Anthony Davis—combined. Leonard connected on 10 of his 19 field goal attempts and sank 9 out of 10 free throws. As usual, he also brought his all-around game to the floor, where he was active around the basket by grabbing six rebounds, along with distributing five assists and recording two steals.

Kawhi Leonard makes his regular season debut with the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring 30 points in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

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