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#3 Leadership
When it comes to the leadership aspect, LeBron James has undoubtedly excelled, but Kawhi Leonard has exhibited some facets that have not gone down well with everyone in his team.
LeBron James might have a few leadership flaws as he may appear intimidating to young players at times. However, the 35-year-old is well in control of his emotions and has demonstrated his ability to rally his teammates around and lead a team to the NBA Finals.
Kawhi Leonard, on the other hand, does not have his teammates fully behind him. That is because the LA Clippers have some veterans and hard-playing NBA pros who probably do not like to see their acclaimed leader missing one in every four games and having nights off.
It is not a matter of Kawhi Leonard being quiet as there are different ways of leadership, but his style does not look quite right with the LA Clippers' roster.
#2 Attitude
Though Kawhi Leonard seems to be a quiet assassin, an aspect he has demonstrated at times, none of that was on display in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
LeBron James, on the other hand, had a "you're not beating us today" attitude that worked beautifully against the multitude of inexperienced teams the LA Lakers had to play in the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.
Kawhi Leonard, however, suffered a meltdown in games six and seven of the Western Conference semi-finals against Denver and eventually could not help his team when they needed him the most.
#1 Pressure
Wherever LeBron James goes to play, there are NBA Championship expectations on him regardless of the crew he has around him or the coach that leads the team from the sidelines.
Granted, LeBron James has had his moments of meltdown in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. But those instances were too few and far between, and he bounced back admirably to lead his team to success on each occasion. However, that was not the case with Kawhi Leonard.
Of course, Leonard received a lot of criticism for the LA Clippers' meltdown against the Denver Nuggets. But that doesn't compare to what LeBron James has had to endure during many of his NBA Finals losses or the second-round exits he has had during his career.
For some more perspective in this regard, LeBron James was heavily criticized by many for getting swept in the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State despite the player averaging 34 points, nine rebounds and ten assists per game.
On the other hand, as the reigning Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard suffered a first-round exit in 2015 in a seven-game series against the "Lob City" Clippers where he scored only 13 points (on 5 of 13 shooting) in the deciding game.
Once again this year, as the reigning NBA champion and Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard could not help his team get past the second round of the Playoffs. And even though he received lots of criticism for that, Kawhi Leonard just does not have the LeBron James-like pressure on his shoulders.
NOTE: This article is not about belittling Kawhi Leonard's year or career; it is only an attempt to drive home the point that it is unfair for Leonard to be compared with LeBron James.
Also read: NBA Trade Rumors: Kawhi Leonard the only untouchable player in LA Clippers, franchise expected to target a playmaker.
Guess the Lakers players!
