Kawhi Leonard declared himself better than Kobe after the 2019 title
The Toronto Raptors have been riding historically well Kawhi Leonard regular season and playoffs en route to winning the 2019 NBA Championship, a run in which the alleged Finals MVP declared he was better all-time than Kobe Bryant.
During a recent segment of the Underground Podcast featuring Kevin Durant and Fred VanVleet, VanVleet, who played with Kawhi Leonard on the 2019 Raptorshe explained how Leonard was maybe felt it that he was better than Kobe Bryant given the run he had that season.
“Kawhi changed my perspective on a lot of shit, but one thing in particular I heard. He didn’t tell me, I just heard it. And it was a conversation that was going on, and the feeling of that conversation … was when we won the championship … it was like, ‘I’m better than Kobe,'” Van W recalled. Kobe. “I started thinking to myself, I know how I feel about where I stand because I’m on the court playing against some of these guys and your favorites.
“When he said that, I said, ‘well, if I’m him,’ and those three words changed the way I looked at the game,” VanVleet continued. “If I’m him, how do I feel.”
While both Durant and VanVleet largely admitted that they don’t particularly share the belief that Leonard could be better all-time than Bryant, both admitted that they can certainly understand the mindset.
“That run he went on, it’s not bad to feel that way,” Durant said. “But I don’t like to use that as an example and say because I did this, I’m better than this. … But I have that feeling of thinking. Kawhi probably feels this, ‘you drop me anywhere, anytime in the history of the Earth, anybody who plays basketball, I can do this anywhere.’ Whether it’s Kobe or MJ, put Kawhi anywhere, I’m sure he could do the same s**t.”
Regardless of Leonardo’s claim, he is already being considered one of the best players to ever play the game, and was selected to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. He is no doubt a future Hall of Famer with two NBA championships and two Finals MVPs.
2025-12-18 00:04:00
