NBA Legend Compares Kawhi Leonard to Anthony Davis Instead of LeBron James

Paul Pierce believes more should be said about Kawhi Leonard's availability.
NBA Legend Compares Kawhi Leonard to Anthony Davis Instead of LeBron James
NBA Legend Compares Kawhi Leonard to Anthony Davis Instead of LeBron James /

Kawhi Leonard is one of the best players in the NBA, and not too long ago he was easily a top-5 player in the league. Unfortunately, he just hasn't been very available the past few years due to an ACL tear. NBA legend Paul Pierce thinks more should be said about that.

Pierce spoke to Kevin Garnett on an episode of 'KG Certified' where he discussed how Kawhi Leonard should be compared more to Anthony Davis because the two are never available.

"We don't hold Kawhi accountable enough," Pierce said. "We mention him in the same as breath of LeBron and KD when he's at his best. But then how we talk about Anthony Davis not being available, we don't put Kawhi in that group. Think about his last four or five years, he's missed about two seasons, always out, ain't really put a lot of games together, but we never talk about that. I don't know if it's the way he's injured or it's the way Anthony Davis is injured."

On one end, Paul Pierce is correct in stating that Kawhi Leonard has been even less available than Anthony Davis. On the other end, it gets talked about plenty. Their injuries are significantly different though. Kawhi Leonard tore his ACL, an incredibly significant injury that used to end careers; Anthony Davis has different nagging injuries that occur all the time during a season.

"We don't say nothing about him always being in street clothes," Pierce said. "You know what I'm saying? How much of Kawhi have we seen? We love watching Kawhi, at his peak, he's one of the best in the league."

As much as people want to see Kawhi Leonard play basketball, he's not coming off of a minor injury. It's an ACL tear, not a sprain or a bruise.

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Farbod Esnaashari
FARBOD ESNAASHARI

12-year NBA veteran that's covered the league on Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and ESPN.