Amount of games that the old Kawhi has taken off due to load management this season: 4, with many more to come in the future.
Amount of games that the new Kawhi has taken off due to load management this season: 0, and that trend looks to continue indefinitely.
If you’re a little slow, when I say “old Kawhi” I’m talking about Kawhi Leonard, and when I say “new Kawhi”, I mean OG Anunoby. I don’t exactly blame you for thinking that the new Kawhi is Pascal Siakam or Terence Davis, but I do blame you if you thought it was Fred VanVleet. VanVleet is the next Vince Carter, you fool.
Although maybe the Kawhi comparison for Anunoby is looking not quite so accurate after this performance. When was the last time you saw Kawhi hit threes like the ones we were seeing Anunoby hit? The obvious joke here is to respond with “never, because he doesn’t play anymore”, but the real answer is never. Just straight up never. Kawhi is great, but Anunoby has added a new dimension to his game, the “take and make contested threes with no emotion” dimension. That is the dimension we are all inhabiting right now, and it’s frickin’ SWEET.
This career-high output is almost a perfect mix of dunks and threes; all those analytics nerds are salivating right now, thinking about the efficient shot profile that Anunoby possesses. But I’m also really digging the midrange pullup jimbo that he hit. It’s one thing to have an efficient shot profile, but it’s another thing, a way better thing, to have a FUN shot profile.