Gregg Popovich is one of the greatest basketball minds in the sport's history. With five NBA rings, three Coach of the Year awards and a long list of players and coaches who have become legends under his guidance, Popovich's impact on the game cannot be overstated.
However, even someone as knowledgeable and experienced as Pop can make slight mistakes. And when it came to assessing Kawhi Leonard , he made a big one, assuming that the latter's ceiling was that of a role player like renowned 3-and-D player Bruce Bowen.
Despite posting impressive numbers for the San Diego State Aztecs, where he averaged 15.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in his second and final NCAA season, many were still unconvinced about the 6'6" forward with massive hands and a knack for dominating the glass. However, Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs had their eyes on him, primarily because of the team's need for size at the small forward spot.
And as much as it hurt Popovich to send a player he absolutely loved having on the Spurs — George Hill — to the Indiana Pacers for Leonard in a draft-day deal, the organization rolled the dice on the unheralded player from Los Angeles .
"It killed us because we were in love with George, and he was playing well for us. But we wanted to get bigger at the three spot. And just watching him, there was just kind of a pace about him and aggressiveness; he wasn't a shooter yet or anything like that, but he was rugged," Popovich said .
Rugged and raw — two words that defined Leonard's early years in the NBA. As he averaged 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 24 minutes per game during his rookie year, Popovich thought his career trajectory would be similar to Bowen's
"Very honestly, we just thought, 'Bruce Bowen,'" the legendary coach surmised. "Maybe we can make this guy a defender with that body, that length and all that kind of thing. This guy can be a stopper, and we'll work on his offense."
To be fair, being compared to Bowen is a compliment. After all, a 6'7" forward known for his defensive savvy, he was a crucial component of the Spurs' title runs in the 2000s and was named to the league's All-Defensive Team eight times.
Bowen, though, was a pure 3-and-D player who could be relied on to lock down the opposing team's best perimeter threat and make threes from the corner. Leonard's game, on the other hand, had so much more substance and depth.
A relentless gym rat, Kawhi worked with the Spurs' player development team to sharpen his offensive game. Pop witnessed all this and began to trust the young man, to the point where he was relied on to match up against LeBron James in the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals.
"He worked his a-s off with those guys," Popovich said about the work Leonard put in to round out his offensive skills. "Ballhandling, pick-and-roll, shooting a 3-pointer, stepbacks, all that sort of stuff. He came before practice, he stayed after practice."
"As time went on, toward the end of his time with us, the two Miami series is when we kind of opened it up for him. Like, 'You're going to be the guy now, because Timmy is getting older, Manu is getting older, Tony is getting older,'" Popovich added.
Leonard didn't let his coach down, averaging 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals in the 2014 Finals to win the Finals MVP award and help lead the Spurs to the title. Proving that he's a lot more than Bowen, he has since added another title to his resume, along with a second Finals MVP trophy and numerous individual accolades.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
