Kawhi Leonard Reacts to Being Called Dr. J's Favorite Player

Kawhi Leonard has great respect for Dr. J

Kawhi Leonard and Dr. J have this mutual respect and admiration for each other, but have never have actually point blank told each other how much they admire one another. During the off-season, AllClippers had the exclusive chance to interview Dr. J where he said Kawhi Leonard was 'absolutely' his favorite player in the NBA.  

We had the chance to finally ask Kawhi Leonard about Dr. J's statements, to which he responded with mutual admiration.

"Before you telling me that I've had conversations with him before, how he admired my game, who I was as an individual," Kawhi said. "Yeah, I spoke to him at the All-Star Game. We connected, took pictures. I asked him about, like I said before, what he is into right now or how he spends his time. But you know, yeah, as time goes on, I feel like that relationship will get stronger." 

Erving was a player Kawhi grew up and admired as a child, so he knows how big of a deal it is to have Dr. J's respect.

"And yeah, I mean, it's an honor for him to tell me that, Kawhi said. "He's one of the guys I looked up to or watched highlights of growing up, trying to pattern my game after him, how he uses the ball to manipulate the fingers, and just his drive to win. He won in the ABA, and he had that monkey on his back throughout the NBA, and he was able to win. I just look at people's stories like that and try to interpret it into my own life. Hopefully the relationship can build."

The two still don't have the teacher-student relationship, but more of one with two acquaintances that greatly admire each other. Hopefully, now that both Kawhi Leonard and Dr. J know how each other feel, this is the start of something of new.

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