While Kawhi Leonard has recently become the face of load management, he’s also had a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. The 33-year-old has nearly done it all. That is besides be named the league’s MVP. Leonard has MVP finishes of second, third, fifth, ninth, 10th, and 13th in his career.
Kendrick Perkins, former NBA player and ESPN employee, stated on ESPN’s NBA Today that Leonard is the best player ever to never be named the NBA’s MVP.
Kendrick Perkins Calls This Active Player Best To Never Win MVP
Accolades Galore In Leonard’s Career
Leonard certainly has a laundry list of accolades that can be rivaled by few. The six-foot-seven forward is a two-time champion, winning one apiece with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors. Both of his rings were accompanied with being named the Finals MVP. Leonard was named the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Through his first 12 seasons, Leonard is a six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, and seven-time All-Defensive member. He was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, has a career PER of 23.4, and owns 99.3 career win shares. Leonard’s career averages in 696 regular season games include 20.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks. His scoring and rebounding averages increase to 21.3 and 7.8 respectively in his 139 career postseason games.
Injury Woes With Clippers
Since joining the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019, Leonard has still been mighty productive. Unfortunately, his time with the Clippers has been marred with injury. Last season, his 68 regular season games were the most he has played with the team. A right knee injury though forced Leonard to miss the team’s first round exit in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks.
Leonard also missed the last three games of the 2023 first round matchup against that same Dallas team. He missed the playoffs, and the entire 2021-22 season, due to a torn ACL. As mentioned, Leonard has become one of the faces of load management. Much of his Clippers tenure has seen him sitting out one game of a back-to-back when he’s been available.
Other Candidates For Best To Never Win MVP
Despite his injury history, Leonard is certainly one of the best players in NBA history to never be named the MVP. There are numerous other all-time greats that have never received the award.
Known as ‘The Logo’, Jerry West was the runner-up for MVP four times. Elgin Baylor averaged at least 34 points per contest for three-straight seasons. John Stockton is the all-time leader in assists and steals. Jason Kidd sits second in both of those categories, and Chris Paul is third in both (with the opportunity to pass Kidd in both in 2024-25). Dwyane Wade is on most people’s Mount Rushmore of shooting guards. Isiah Thomas was the best player on back-to-back championship Detroit Pistons teams. Patrick Ewing is arguably the greatest New York Knicks player of all-time. Scottie Pippen may have been seen as a Robin, but he finished third in MVP voting in 1993-94 while Michael Jordan was playing minor league baseball.
That’s just a short list of players who never won MVP that are enshrined (or will be) in the Basketball Hall of Fame. It’s a fun debate to be had as to the best NBA player ever that never won an MVP award.
