Prep stars are foes
Former Riverside King High teammates Leonard, Snell face off tonight when Clippers play Hawks.
Former Martin Luther King High boys’ basketball coach Tim Sweeney Jr. pegged Kawhi Leonard as a future NBA player minutes into a pickup game. It took him a season to see that Tony Snell could some day join his teammate in the basketball big leagues.
In both cases involving those quietly driven young men, the coach was right.
Leonard has exceeded even Sweeney’s greatest expectations, growing up to earn acclaim as a two-time NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star, and landing, last season, in L.A. as the Clippers’ leading man.
Meanwhile, in his sevenplus NBA seasons, Snell has shown staying power as a role player suiting up for Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and now Atlanta.
Recent Hawks injuries have bumped Snell, who grew up in Watts, into the starting unit for the past 12 games, a stretch in which Atlanta has nine wins, including eight consecutive entering tonight’s contest against the Clippers at Staples Center. A 6-foot-6 wing, in that span Snell is shooting 57.9% from the floor and 57.5% from 3-point range.
Monday’s matchup between the former King teammates — who put the Riverside program on the map in the 2008-09 season, when the Wolves went 30-3 and earned a No. 7 national ranking in the MaxPreps poll — will be their 11th as pros.
Leonard might have entered his senior season of high school without a majorconference scholarship offer, but after averaging 22.6 points and 13.1 rebounds, he was named California Mr. Basketball.
Snell played Paul George to King’s version of Leonard that memorable season, averaging 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three assists per game.
In King’s stunning 71-56 upset over Mater Dei, then ESPN’s top-ranked team in the country, Leonard contributed 11 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks. Snell came through with 16 points, including three 3s.
Their team left an imprint on Inland Empire basketball.
“You remember coming to the gym, 2,500 people a night, it was a dang madhouse — so much fun,” Sweeney said, reminiscing last week by phone about the juggernaut that was led by a pair of team-oriented talents willing to sacrifice their
own stats and much more interested in sharpening their skills behind the scenes than garnering attention for them in the spotlight.
Leonard and Snell have fond memories of that time, too, including working to make a shared dream come true.
“Back in the day, we both was hungry, we wanted just to win, and we wanted to play a sport we loved,” said Snell, who played three seasons at New Mexico. “He played the 3 spot, I played the 5 spot – I played out of position, but I played my role. We both worked hard to get here, and what he’s doing is amazing. It’s inspiring.”
Last season, Leonard expressed similar sentiments.
“Our senior years playing together, working out in the summer and having this goal of being NBA players, for us to both be here is amazing,” the former San Diego State star said. “We know we’ve got to take our blessings and opportunities and just play hard when we’re out there against each other.”
Sweeney said he thinks their reserved dispositions helped them succeed.
“They both kept their heads down and got to work,” said Sweeney, retired now after coaching for 25 years. “Both very quiet, very introverted individuals, very small circle of friends, extremely small, and very into their families.
“It’s not only make good on talent,” Sweeney said. “You have to have that desire and that drive, that passion to be the next-level player, and a lot of times it’s a lot easier for guys who are introverted. They’re really focused on their goals; extroverted-type players are more worried about the social part. These guys just wanted to be great. They like putting in the time and the hours, that’s their release, that’s their passion.”
Neither Leonard nor Snell seems to have changed much, said Sweeney, noting he can’t exactly keep up with their personal milestones on social media — because neither partakes.
In a rare TV talk show appearance in December, Leonard laughed along when host Jimmy Kimmel teased him about his most recent tweet — of a hoverboard adorned with his Klaw logo, posted in 2015.
“I probably didn’t even post that,” Leonard said. “I don’t have a Twitter account, I don’t know the password to it, so ...”
Neither does Snell, who uses a BlackBerry, eschewing more advanced smartphones.
“I feel like iPhones, you can literally do anything and everything on that phone, and I don’t like the fact that phones have that type of control over people,” Snell, 29, said. “I know some people, if they lose their phone, they lose their minds. If I lose my BlackBerry, I go find another one. I don’t want to have a device have that type of power over me.
“For me, having a BlackBerry keeps me having a balanced life where I can just keep that balance of not being on my phone all the time, just enjoying time with my family. I’ve always been that way, I’m always big on face-to-face talking with people person.
“I had a comment the other day that I was really bad on social media, but I’m great in person ... I’d rather be that person who is a terrible social-media guy but face-to-face, we can convo all day. I know a lot of people, they can talk all day on text messages and all that, but when it comes to face to face, it’s kind of awkward. I don’t want to be that type of guy.”
Snell the type of guy who’s respected around the league for his professionalism, who Sweeney expects will stick around a for a few seasons more, to add to the $38 million he’s earned thus far, because his ability to defend and hit the open shot makes him a capable complement to the league’s stars.
“He’s an ultimate professional,” said Clippers guard Reggie Jackson, who spent part of last season in Detroit with Snell. “Hard worker, very competitive, someone who still has a lot of game in him. Someone who at this juncture in his career is enjoying loving the game, enjoying learning it, loving it. One of my better teammates.”
Interim Hawks coach Nate McMillan offered echoes of Sweeney when he described the player who drained the buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer on March 11 to lift Atlanta 121120 over Toronto.
“He doesn’t say much, he just shows up and does his job,” McMillan said. “He comes in, he gets his work done, he knows what he needs to work on, he does that and then he comes out and plays the game. Doesn’t ask many questions, he just takes care of business.”
The next matter of business: Another meeting with Leonard.
“We’re just definitely happy for each other,” Snell said. “He was player of the year back then, I wasn’t really that known at all, had to take the harder route, but we always encouraged each other, ‘We hard workers, we got this, focus on the goals.’ We always encouraged each other’s play, and now when we on the court, we just compete.”