FanPost

Comparing Kawhi with Michael

By now, readers of this great website have read the quote from Pop about Kawhi being like Michael Jordan in terms of playing well on both sides of the ball. So, one has to wonder how good can Kawhi be? Below is a selected comparison of Kawhi's career to date with Michael's first 5 years and career (minus the 2 years with the Wizards).

First, look at offensive efficiency using true shooting percentage (TS%). We know Michael is the best here, but look at Kawhi's TS%. What is most striking is that his shooting efficiency last year (66%) was well above Michael's whole career (year 5 was his best at 61.4%). Michael simply took more shots (points and shots are shown per 36 minutes). Imagine what happens when Kawhi takes as many shots. We are seeing this now, 5 games into year 5.

Now, let's look at defensive efficiency using steals per 100 possessions (STL%). Michael was clearly as good on defense as he was on offense, but Kawhi is just below him here too. Last year, Kawhi was at 3.7 steals per 100 possessions, and Michael's best defensive years of his career were in his 2nd and 4th years at 3.9.

I have selected these and won't compare other statistics, like rebounds or assists, because Kawhi is a forward (and rebounds at a higher rate) and Michael was a guard (and assisted at a higher rate).

The only difference between Kawhi Leonard's and Micheal Jordan's numbers is that Kawhi is only just now starting to do what Michael did every year of his career with the Bulls. I'm okay with that.

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