Leonard named Male Athlete of Year
He was the Fun Guy. The board man who got paid. He overcame injury to reclaim his rightful place as one of the best basketball players on the planet. He conquered the NBA world for a second time, bringing a championship to Canada. And then he joined the Los Angeles Clippers, ready to start anew. “What it do, baby?” For Kawhi Leonard in 2019, there finally is an answer to his famous question, asked on his way to the Raptors’ victory parade: He did everything, without talking much.
Leonard is the Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year for 2019, comfortably winning a vote by AP member sports editors and AP beat writers. He becomes the fifth NBA player to win the award, joining Larry Bird (1986), threetime recipient Michael Jordan (1991 through 1993), threetime recipient Le
Bron James (2013, 2016, 2018) and Stephen Curry (2015). Simone Biles was announced Thursday as the women’s recipient for 2019.
Leonard was the NBA Finals MVP for the second time, leading Toronto to its first championship — five years after he first won both trophies with the San Antonio Spurs. He wound up leaving the Raptors in the summer for the Clippers, returning to his native Southern California and turning the historically woeful franchise into one of the top teams in the league.
“The ride was fun,” Leonard said this month on his return trip to Toronto, summing up his year with the Raptors. “I had a great time.”
By now, it’s no secret that Leonard is a man of few words.
He is not a man of few accomplishments.
He received more than twice as many points in the balloting as any of the other 18 votegetters. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was second, followed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tennis player Rafael Nadal and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.