Yesterday was really just an elaborate set ups to today’s discussion. It’s not difficult for most basketball fans to find a comparison between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen interesting.
But how about two former Spurs.
Specifically, let’s talk about the similarities and differences between Kawhi Leonard and Thaddeus Young.
Kawhi’s accolades include back-to-back DPOY, two Finals MVP honors, six All-Star appearances, and various All-NBA and All-Defensive
honors. Yet, his lifetime stats most closely align with those of Thaddeus Young.
In fact, Young has more points than Leonard. More rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, too. More steals and blocks than a two-time Defensive Player of the Year…how could it be?
For one, Leonard has only played 733 games over thirteen seasons. Compared to Young’s 1172 games over 17 seasons, Young has clearly had more time to accumulate lifetime statistics. In a comparison average, Leonard trumps Young in every category sans rebounding average in their lone best season (Young had 9 per game in 2016 to Leonard’s 7.9 in 2019). Other than that, Young has a slight edge in field goal percentage.
In most cases, there should be no comparison between Young and Leonard. But the Instagram comparison post does cause some head scratching.
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