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"He couldn't shoot" - Danny Green on Kawhi Leonard's glaring weakness in his early SA Spurs years
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- "He couldn't shoot" - Danny Green on Kawhi Leonard's glaring weakness in his early SA Spurs years
Danny Green built a fourteen-year NBA career around one skill above all else. Knocking down open jump shots. He shot better than 40 percent from three for stretches and became known as one of the league's most reliable floor-spacers.
That background matters when Green talks about another player's jumper. The New York native did exactly that in 2025 when he discussed Kawhi Leonard 's shot on the "Gil's Arena" podcast.
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The flaw in young Leonard's game
Green and Leonard shared a locker room for seven seasons across two franchises. First with the San Antonio Spurs , then with the Toronto Raptors . It gave Danny a rare front-row seat to the transformation. The player he met early on bore little resemblance to the seven-time All-Star everyone celebrates today.
As to why Leonard is barely recognizable compared to back then, Green said his younger version, selected 15th in the 2011 NBA Draft , had a glaring weakness in his game.
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"He couldn't shoot when he first came in," DG said before adding, at least, "not well."
According to the retired 6'6" swingman, everyone inside the organization saw it. That's why the Spurs weren't betting on a shooter when they traded George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for Leonard's draft rights. They were betting on a frame that would make the San Diego State product a "defensive stopper."
"He (Leonard) had the physique," Green explained. "He had shoulders. He had arms. He had the hands."
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A rare shooting transformation
What Leonard didn't have was the usual background you see in players who develop into good shooters later on. Things like already having clean shooting mechanics, even if the percentages don't show it yet.
DG made that point himself. He said it was part of why everyone was so stunned when they saw The Claw starting to reap the rewards of working on his shot "every day."
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"It's rare you don't see people change a shot and become a good shooter," Green remarked. "You either have touch, or you don't. You either can shoot or you can't."
Leonard was different, though. And the way he made it happen came down to a special training process.
His ex-Spurs teammate described a specific routine. It started as close to the basket as possible. Leonard rebuilt his shot from the free-throw line. It was only then that the Spurs' staff allowed the California native to gradually extend his range.
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The results eventually became impossible to ignore.
First, the numbers.
From the start of his sophomore year through his final season with the Texas-based franchise, Kawhi averaged 3.7 three-pointers per contest. He knocked them down at a highly respectable .387 clip.
Second, the team's hierarchy.
According to Green, the Spurs' offense changed because opponents now had to respect Leonard from every spot on the hardwood. That said, San Antonio went from running everything through point guard Tony Parker to running it through Leonard, now blessed with a deadly jumper.
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In the end, timing is an underrated part of the story, too.
Leonard seemed to reconstruct, as Green described it, his shot right before the three-point revolution changed how the game was played and how players should approach it.
The Claw, for his part, knows how to play it. Kawhi is a two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, one of the best two-way players ever and a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Aug 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
