Even-keeled Leonard will speak up if he’s fouled
TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard knew exactly what he was doing when he picked up his first career technical foul in a regular-season game Sunday night against the Miami Heat.
As the clock ticked down in the third quarter, Leonard drove toward the basket, only to have his arm blatantly grabbed by Heat forward Justise Winslow, interrupting the play. The referee on the baseline didn’t make the call and Leonard threw his arms up in the air in frustration. He could be heard on the television broadcast yelling: “He grabbed my arm, he grabbed my arm.”
Leonard had had enough.
“It was just kind of getting out of hand with some of the calls out there,” he said postgame. “(The referees) are doing the best job they can, but some of the calls tonight, I mean I thought I got fouled pretty hard.”
When play stopped after the next possession, Leonard, in a mix of anger and wanting to send that message, was issued the technical after making his case to referee Tony Brothers.
“You work so hard in this game to try and win a game or score the basketball and, when you don’t get your calls, it’s very difficult when someone blatantly fouls you,” Leonard said
What exact words were exchanged between Leonard and Brothers will remain behind closed doors, but the player knew what he was headed for. Asked afterward if he earned the technical, Leonard’s answer was clear.
“Definitely.”
It is not something you normally see from the typically reserved 28-year-old, who has averaged just 1.7 personal fouls per game in his career and is averaging 1.4 fouls a night so far this season.
Leonard’s 727 personal fouls in 422 games is fewer that his 749 steals, putting him in a small and elite group of defenders. Only 12 players in National Basketball Association history have fewer fouls than steals in their careers, according to Basketball Reference, a list that includes the likes of Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson. Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Memphis Grizzlies’ backup Myke Henry, who has played all of 20 league games to date in his rookie season, are the only active players on that list.
“Just trying to be solid, stay in front of the player and contest without fouling,” Leonard said about his unique record. “Just making guys try to shoot over the top of me.”
Coach Nick Nurse attributes Leonard’s discipline to his defensive instincts, his big hands and his strength. Nurse has seen the player’s hand link up with the ball almost magnetically, has watched him pull off a pair of no-look steals and has seen him swat the ball away from opponents with brute force.
Doing so without fouling makes those moves all the more impressive.
“A lot of it’s just great hands, man,” Nurse said. “A lot of it’s the guy that kind of sticks his hand in there a lot and not hit flesh, and his leather? It’s a skill and I think it’s an anticipation thing. He knows where it’s going to be when he finally makes that reach up, how high and how far away and all that kind of stuff.”
Temperament could play a part in the numbers, too. Even though Leonard took the rare step of voicing his displeasure on the call Sunday night, it was a fleeting grievance. No matter how hard he believed he was getting fouled on the night, Leonard still finished the game with a team-high 29 points and 10 defensive rebounds, an area where he is putting up career-high numbers so far this season by averaging 7.2 per game.
Staying level-headed in-game is something Leonard had to learn early on in his playing days, even before he reached the NBA. Now, he said, it is second nature.