Kendrick Perkins rare good point explains part of Spurs fans anger at Kawhi

Kendrick Perkins has become one of the faces of NBA media because he has a unique style that brings an entertainment value to the field. His basketball takes, however, have left something to be desired on innumerable occasions. But credit has to be given when it's due, and KP made a great point on ESPN while discussing Kawhi Leonard.

Perkins is right on the money for nominating Kawhi for this title. Spurs fans watched this man evolve from an energy player who specialized in defense and hustle plays into a bonafide superstar you had to strategize your gameplan around or risk getting embarrassed.

Leonard was the first wing superstar the Spurs had since George Gervin

Tony Parker was a guard and doesn't even apply, but even if you wanted to include him, he was never a superstar in the NBA. A star, no doubt, but that transcendent level of appeal was never reached for TP, and the same could be said for Manu Ginobili.

You could label them global icons because of their impact and fan bases extending worldwide, but superstardom never happened in the annals of the NBA.

The Klaw came in and achieved that pinnacle starting with his Finals performance in 2014, earning him the Finals MVP honors. His trajectory skyrocketed after that, becoming arguably the league's best two-way player.

Most two-way players in the league were guys who could shoot the three in the corner or had a dynamic game around the basket. They weren't players who averaged 20 points per game and had the offense and defense constructed around their abilities, but that was the case for Leonard.

The only other players who could perform at that high of a level were players like LeBron James and Paul George, and even PG paled in comparison to Leonard. He was a dominating force who made it easy to envision the Spurs remaining at the top despite the Big Three era coming to a conclusion—and he was just one man.

Things ended up working out for the best, considering the injuries that have derailed Leonard's career over the past few seasons and San Antonio's acquisition of Victor Wembanyama, but that was not apparent at the time.

All fans saw was a player that Coach Popovich and the organization helped elevate to an obvious Hall of Fame trajectory spit in the faces of their franchise. What could have been paired with the disrespect on the way out the door would infuriate any fan base in the world. Hopefully, the Wemby era displaces the resentment that still flows Leonard's way six years later.