MartinToVaught wrote:Where's the rings? If we're calling players failures for "only" winning one ring since 2014, then all I'm seeing here is a list of failures. He also didn't lead Booker and Ayton's team to the Finals, let's be real now. He was the third-best player on a team that got insanely lucky in facing three straight injury-ravaged teams in the playoffs and then folded against the only healthy team they faced.
After 2014, there were definitely thoughts [and certainly after 2015] Kawhi Leonard had a ceiling as a Top 10-15 player of all-time. He was a larger, less-selfish Kobe Bryant holding a similar level of work ethic. When a player is that good and has that much potential, I do consider it a failure when they don't achieve what I consider to be their highest expected outcome.
When I consider the outcome a failure, I dont bring them up all the time. I don't attempt to attack or belittle them in discussions left and right because I still respect them as basketball players and understand many accomplishments in basketball are not in a players control. I still have respect for Kawhi Leonard just as I do most players in the NBA, especially because Kawhi Leonard is relatively quiet and works hard on his craft.
If we are comparing this to Chris Paul, I never really expected him to become a Top 20 player of all-time [Granted I didn't get into seriously ranking players until I joined this forum--perhaps I would have in 2008 and 2009].
I had different standards for these players [Kawhi and CP3] and thus can appreciate what each one accomplishes in different ways.
