Where does kawhi rank as an athlete? What tier?

[Pelly24]

He's a very physically imposing player because of his length, height, strength, wingspan and hand-size, but how athletic is he? It looks like he's got a decent first step, but even when people beat him to a spot he just goes right through them because he's maybe the strongest player in the league. I'd guess his vertical's gone up to at least 36-37 from 33 or so it was coming in. He's got great lateral quickness but isn't super fast in the open court. How athletic is he? Let's say compared to second 3-peat jordan, prime kobe/tmac, paul pierce, ray allen?

[D.Brasco]

Close to 2nd 3-peat Jordan but a notch below. He gets by more on his strength and length than sheer verticality.

His combination of strength and overall speed is in the elite I'd say.

[KobesScarf]

He is no where near 2nd 3peat MJ, Kobe or T-Mac in athleticism

I would say he's most similar to Richard Jefferson or maybe Glen Robinson

[GSP]

He has freakish strength. His delts and lats are insane for a wing. Not quite Iguodala but not far behind.

On his drives he moves guys completely away when he puts his shoulder down abit. Its the biggest reason he can get to his spots anytime

Def one of the physically strongest wings ever. As far as explosiveness and speed i dont think hes as exceptional but still elite for an Nba player

[Bergmaniac]

He's quite underrated in this aspect because most people massively overrate leaping ability and underrate strength and balance.

[No-more-rings]

One matchup I would’ve loved to see would be prime Artest guarding Kawhi.