Has a superstar's status taken a bigger hit than Kawhi these past 2 seasons?

GSP · Post #1 » by **GSP** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:09 am

After the Raptors title many thought he was the best player in the league and the most clutch player

Clips were co favorites to win it all last year and got upset in historic fashion with Kawhi playing horribly in the last few games with Jokic clearly surpassing him as a player and thats continued this season

Now the vaunted Clippers perimeter defense is 18th in the league and looking like garbage. Kawhi, Pg, Bev might be the most overrated defensive trio in Nba history. Kawhi hasnt been an elite defender since like 2016. Hes been really good but gotten by on rep recently and its showed when he hasnt had the stacked Raptors defense with all defense level defenders at every position (Fvv, Lowry, Siakam, Marc, Og, Serge, Danny)

Now not only does anyone not even entertain him being the best player hes prolly not even viewed as a top 5 player anymore and hes been a mediocre clutch performer the last 2 seasons too and is never in the discussion for most clutch player

When the Clips get upset in the playoffs again likely the 1st round this time with Kawhis contract coming to an end what will he do?

RaptorPride · Post #2 » by **RaptorPride** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:10 am

Onlytimewilltel · Post #3 » by **Onlytimewilltel** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:12 am

What if the clippers beat the lakers in playoffs though?

GSP · Post #4 » by **GSP** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:12 am

RaptorPride wrote:

Okay? Their defense was even better the next season after losing Danny and Kawhi and having Og healthy

Dr Aki · Post #5 » by **Dr Aki** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:12 am

Westbrook and Giannis' playoff performances leave much to be desired

GSP · Post #6 » by **GSP** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:13 am

Onlytimewilltel wrote:What if the clippers beat the lakers in playoffs though?

GSP · Post #7 » by **GSP** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:14 am

Dr Aki wrote:Westbrook and Giannis' playoff performances leave much to be desired

I dont think Russ was ever truly viewed as a tier 1 superstar tho. His Mvp was criticized quite a bit and everyone knew the flaws in his game on both ends

I guess Giannis more so but everyone also knew he cant shoot and thatd be an issue

after the Raptors title many had Kawhi as the clear best player in the league and felt like he had little to no issues in his game and was the best playoff performer and clutch player too

Kingdibs19 · Post #8 » by **Kingdibs19** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:16 am

Kawhi been overrated

RaptorPride · Post #9 » by **RaptorPride** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:19 am

GSP wrote:
Dr Aki wrote:Westbrook and Giannis' playoff performances leave much to be desired

I dont think Russ was ever truly viewed as a tier 1 superstar tho. His Mvp was criticized quite a bit and everyone knew the flaws in his game on both ends

I guess Giannis more so but everyone also knew he cant shoot and thatd be an issue

after the Raptors title many had Kawhi as the clear best player in the league and felt like he had little to no issues in his game and was the best playoff performer and clutch player too

Kawhi on the Raptors was not a defensive first player. He put his effort on offence and played decent defense and would step up for a play or two when he needed to. But it was clear he wasn't the same defensive player he used to be. Honestly every Raptor that year was at minimum an above average defender that could shoot the three. But he got all the credit for it. He just fit like a glove with them. Just a lack of Americans who watch Raptors games.

It was wishful thinking Clippers would be a better defensive team than those Raptors.

It probably just comes down to his degenerative quad injury. More than likely will continue to effect his game as he gets older. And has taken on a bigger offensive role then he had before. You only have so much energy.

Maxthirty · Post #10 » by **Maxthirty** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:22 am

I haven’t noticed it. He does deserve it though.

Kawhi’s defense has been overrated to the point that it’s just laughable. He’s still a stud though, so don’t @ me Dippers fans.

TinmanZBoy · Post #11 » by **TinmanZBoy** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:36 am

I really miss this Kawhi

Watch on YouTube

Raps in 4 · Post #12 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:37 am

Kawhi doesn't play defence in the regular season. He was a pylon in Toronto for most of the season.

His mistake was picking a career playoff choker like PG to be his running mate. Lebron and KD are much better GMs than Kawhi.

Post #13 » by **dakomish23** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:40 am

It hasn’t taken a hit. Do a draft of the league for one playoff series. GMs are taking him top 10 at the minimum, maybe top 5.

TinmanZBoy · Post #14 » by **TinmanZBoy** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:40 am

you can't blame Kawhi not playing defense any more... the league has been rewarding offense with rules, contracts and punishing players who play defense ... how the hell MKG and RHJ are out of the league right now at their prime age... blame the league...

GSP · Post #15 » by **GSP** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:43 am

dakomish23 wrote:It hasn’t taken a hit. Do a draft of the league for one playoff series. GMs are taking him top 10 at the minimum, maybe top 5.

Thanks for proving it did take a hit :crazy:

After 2019 Gms are taking him top 5 at minimum and maybe #1 overall

Raps in 4 · Post #16 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:43 am

dakomish23 wrote:It hasn’t taken a hit. Do a draft of the league for one playoff series. GMs are taking him top 10 at the minimum, maybe top 5.

The only players you could make a case for over him are Lebron, Steph, KD, Harden, Luka, and Jokic (I would personally take him ahead of Luka, Jokic, and Harden, maybe even KD).

ForeverTFC · Post #17 » by **ForeverTFC** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:57 am

1) The Raptors had a better team than the Clippers do
2) The Clippers get very little attention, especially with Lebron in LA
3) The Raptors as an org and Toronto as a city are pretty good at marketing and hyping people; the amount of memes and catch-phrases we got out of Kawhi in that 1 year was epic and kept him relevant on a daily basis

Raps in 4 · Post #18 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:01 am

ForeverTFC wrote:1) The Raptors had a better team than the Clippers do
2) The Clippers get very little attention, especially with Lebron in LA
3) The Raptors as an org and Toronto as a city are pretty good at marketing and hyping people; the amount of memes and catch-phrases we got out of Kawhi in that 1 year was epic and kept him relevant on a daily basis

I bet he doesn't even get recognized on the street in LA. The Clippers are to LA what the Argonauts are to Toronto.

dhsilv2 · Post #19 » by **dhsilv2** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:02 am

GSP wrote:After the Raptors title many thought he was the best player in the league and the most clutch player

Clips were co favorites to win it all last year and got upset in historic fashion with Kawhi playing horribly in the last few games with Jokic clearly surpassing him as a player and thats continued this season

Now the vaunted Clippers perimeter defense is 18th in the league and looking like garbage. Kawhi, Pg, Bev might be the most overrated defensive trio in Nba history. Kawhi hasnt been an elite defender since like 2016. Hes been really good but gotten by on rep recently and its showed when he hasnt had the stacked Raptors defense with all defense level defenders at every position (Fvv, Lowry, Siakam, Marc, Og, Serge, Danny)

Now not only does anyone not even entertain him being the best player hes prolly not even viewed as a top 5 player anymore and hes been a mediocre clutch performer the last 2 seasons too and is never in the discussion for most clutch player

When the Clips get upset in the playoffs again likely the 1st round this time with Kawhis contract coming to an end what will he do?

All this really does is showcases how bad winning bias is on fans and how fans can't separate the impact of the on ball player from teammate's impact off ball.

elchengue20 · Post #20 » by **elchengue20** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:05 am

No and its not even close.

After his championship in Toronto hype got really outta control. A lot of people were claiming he was clearly the best player in the league.

Even clowns like Broussard and Collin Crowherd sayed he had a legit chance of ending a top 5 player all time.

Those takes were ridicolous just for one great Playoff run and a championship with an asterisk. Of course it didnt aged well and now the stock is falling fast.