Photo Credit Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Kobe Bryant Praises Kawhi Leonard

After being shocked by the Orlando Magic in Game 1, the Toronto Raptors more than bounced back in Game 2 and destroyed the Magic to tie the series.

It was just as if they were able to flip a switch after Game 1 and I can imagine that it’ll be smooth sailing for the remainder of the series.

Kawhi Leonard was especially impressive, making 15 of his 22 shot attempts that added up to 37 points. Only a couple of days prior to his amazing performance, Leonard was praised by none other than Kobe Bryant during Kobe’s ESPN+ show “Detail,”.

“Kawhi has a way to disassociate his movements, and what I mean by that is his legs can continue to move in one direction and his upper-body can drop – see how he drops that shoulder down? He drops that shoulder down to keep the defence at bay and he still has the leg strength – look at all that power going into those legs right there,” Bryant said.

“That’s a lot of strength to be able to stop there and through that momentum going full speed to be able to then slide away from the defence.

“Those are tough shots. That’s why it’s important when you lift, you’ve gotta lift real weights – you’ve gotta get strong. That’s the only way to be able to take shots like this, you’ve gotta have great leg strength.”

Leonard most likely has the best mid-range game in the league. But on top of that, he probably also is the best two-way player in the NBA.