Gregg Popovich states that Kawhi Leonard is an excellent player but that he was not a leader in San Antonio Spurs

Before Saturday's game in Milwaukee, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was questioned about the importance of Guardian Patty Mills' leadership following Manu Ginobili's retirement and transfer. from Kawhi Leonard in Toronto. He drew a rough balance sheet of Leonard.

"Kawhi was an excellent player, but he was not a leader or anything," Popovich told the press about Leonard, the 2014 NBA finals player and double defender of the NBA. # 39; year. "Manu and Patty were the leaders, Kawhi's talent will always be missed, but that leadership was not his job at the time." It may come as he progresses, but Manu and Patty have played this role last year, and LaMarcus [Aldridge] traveled a long way in this regard too. "

Leonard is expected to return to San Antonio on January 3, when the Raptors face the Spurs at AT & T.

Sent to Toronto with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick 2019, Leonard played only nine games last season for the Spurs while he had been injured in the right quadriceps.

During Leonard's rehabilitation process, his relationship with the Spurs became strained due to the differing views of the parties regarding different elements of the recovery and the various return schedules. He requested an exchange during the summer and the Spurs finally agreed.

Previously, while Leonard was becoming one of the NBA's leading two-way players and a perennial candidate as the most valuable player, the Spurs had hoped that he would play a bigger role as a leader. , especially after the retirement of the pillar of the franchise, Tim Duncan, in 2016.

Leonard has actually started taking steps in this direction, and he has often been one of the first Spurs to address the media as a spokesperson for the team after the matches, a once Duncan had retired.

But after Leonard injured his ankle in the first game of the finals of the 2017 Western Conference, forcing him to miss the entire series, the team revealed just before the training camp that he was dealing with quadriceps problem. From that point on, Leonard was away from the organization, sources told ESPN.

Despite everything, Popovich defended Leonard during the summer against any insinuation that he was not a good teammate.

"It's quite ridiculous," said Popovich at the time. "Kawhi has been an excellent teammate all along the way, he has done his job and he has not been a problem for anyone, the talking heads must have a story. talk – maybe I am – I would have stories too, all the stories that denigrate him in this regard, it was unfortunate and inaccurate. "

The Spurs have made significant changes during the offseason, losing longtime goalie Tony Parker, as well as Ginobili and Kyle Anderson, who have signed as a free agent with the Memphis Grizzlies.

All the changes left somehow a vacuum of leadership that Mills assumed with Aldridge.