{"id":448444,"date":"2026-02-02T03:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T03:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/448444\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T03:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T03:53:09","slug":"kawhi-leonard-should-be-a-2026-nba-all-star-over-these-4-players-especially-lebron-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/448444\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard Should Be a 2026 NBA All-Star Over These 4 Players, Especially LeBron James"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kawhi vs. Booker2 of 4<\/p>\n

With Devin Booker, we’re at least looking at someone with a role similar to Leonard’s. He’s the clear No. 1 scorer and has to face the opposition’s toughest defender or most specific scheming.<\/p>\n

And while the Los Angeles Clippers started the season as one of the league’s most disappointing teams, the Phoenix Suns have consistently been one of its most pleasant surprises.<\/p>\n

But the comparison on this one is, once again, kind of ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\nLeonard: 27.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals, 2.1 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 62.8 true shooting percentage, 5.7 EPM, 3.9 net rating (10.6 swing)<\/p>\n

Booker: 25.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 3.3 turnovers, 0.3 blocks, 58.0 true shooting percentage, 2.2 EPM, 5.2 net rating (4.1 swing)\n<\/p>\n

The biggest distinction between these two doesn’t really show up in the numbers either. Leonard is still, pretty clearly, a plus defender. He leads the league in steals per game and can blanket an opponent’s best scorer. Booker’s been better this year than he typically<\/a> is, but that just means he’s been a solid cog in the system. Leonard’s often a standout.<\/p>\n

Kawhi vs. Avdija3 of 4<\/p>\n

Avdija getting his first All-Star nod is a cool story.<\/p>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers are better than they were supposed to be, and his breakout as a star-level point forward is the primary reason why.<\/p>\n

But his team is actually losing his non-garbage time minutes. He averages less than half as many steals as Kawhi, while also averaging almost twice as many turnovers.<\/p>\n

Those numbers and Kawhi’s slight edge in scoring efficiency should’ve been more than enough to make up for Avdija’s advantages on the boards and in the assist column.<\/p>\n

\nLeonard: 27.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals, 2.1 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 62.8 true shooting percentage, 5.7 EPM, 3.9 net rating (10.6 swing)<\/p>\n

Avdija: 25.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 3.9 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 61.0 true shooting percentage, 2.6 EPM, -0.6 net rating (6.3 swing)\n<\/p>\n

You’d think for the spots determined by a coach’s vote, Kawhi’s legacy would’ve helped. First-timers typically need a blindingly obvious case to get in over a vet. And that’s just not present here.<\/p>\n

Of course, this year brings the added wrinkle of the event needing eight international players. So, with Avdija being able to check that box, this comparison may be moot.<\/p>\n

That shouldn’t be a big deal, because the most obviously wrong call is up next.<\/p>\n

Kawhi vs. LeBron4 of 4<\/p>\n

The veteran bump obviously helped here, because there simply isn’t an objective case to have LeBron in the All-Star game over Leonard.<\/p>\n

\nLeonard: 27.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals, 2.1 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 62.8 true shooting percentage, 5.7 EPM, 3.9 net rating (10.6 swing)<\/p>\n

James: 21.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 2.9 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 58.8 true shooting percentage, 0.6 EPM, -1.5 net rating (-2.6 swing)\n<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s impressive that LeBron is doing this at 41 years old. And it’s understandable that coaches might want to reward his longevity with an All-Star appearance.<\/p>\n

But putting him in over Kawhi (or really, any of the aforementioned All-Stars) doesn’t tell an accurate story of this season. LeBron simply isn’t one of the 24 best players in the league anymore.<\/p>\n

Advanced numbers say only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Joki\u0107, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Donovan Mitchell have been better than Kawhi this season. They have LeBron outside the top 50<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leonard not being named an All-Star is more than a snub. It’s a farce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawhi vs. Booker2 of 4 With Devin Booker, we’re at least looking at someone with a role similar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-448444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}