The San Antonio Spurs lost a great leader to retirement. The Big Fundamental, Tim Duncan, the face of the franchise for almost two decades decided to walk away from the game before the start of the season. Duncan helped this team to be competitive and gained the respect of other teams for 19 NBA seasons.
Tim Duncan was all about business and avoided the media spotlight much of his career. With his work ethic and discipline, he won five championships and six finals appearances. According to The Washington Post, Spurs' head coach Greg Popovich stated before the start of the season that Duncan was the team's supreme leader on and off the court. The whole team knows how to act and play their role whenever he's around.
On the Spurs' first game without Duncan, they destroyed the super team, Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant's debut for 29 points, 129-100. Leonard had a career-high 35 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. The Warriors could not handle his all-around game.
Kawhi Leonard is already a proven leader and keeps on getting better on each of his seasons with the Spurs. Tim is gone, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili has already reached or past their prime. In a report by The Ringer, Spurs general manager R.C Buford said that the team is transitioning its leaders and its happening so fast.
With the Big 3 era of the Spurs now coming to an end, the franchise has maintained its competitiveness and has more than enough talents to challenge the best teams in the league. Leonard is off to a hot start this season and accepted the role as the Spurs' new leader. People believed that with Duncan's retirement, Leonard will have a career-high season and he accepted this challenge.
Kawhi Leonard said that he learned so much from Duncan in terms of working hard every night and the mentality of being a leader. When Duncan announced his retirement, Leonard prepared for a bigger role this season. Communicating more with the team and keeping their mindset to be more focused as a competitive group, per Bleacher Report.
As for Kawhi Leonard, having the best start of his career together with All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, can absolutely keep the Spurs as competitive as before. The future of the San Antonio Spurs is in good hands with its new leader.
