Professional basketball rising superstar Kawhi Leonard has been named the Hickok Belt® Award winner for the month of June 2019. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). The voters selected the basketball phenom after he led the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA championship, beating the Golden State Warriors four games to two. Nicknamed “The Claw” for his ball hawking skills, he won the NBA finals MVP for the second time. Leonard first won the honor in 2014 with the San Antonio Spurs, when they won the NBA championship. He joins LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the third player ever to win the NBA finals MVP with two teams. Leonard has earned five All-Defensive team selections and won the NBA defensive player of the year award in 2015 and 2016. Kawhi Leonard scored 732 points in the 2019 playoffs behind only Michael Jordan (759) and LeBron James (748). On July 9, 2019 he signed a three year $103 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, with a player option in season three.
Other finalists for the month of June in order of how the NSMA ranked them included: Megan Rapinoe (soccer), Max Scherzer (baseball), Gary Woodland (golf), Jordan Binnington (hockey), Steph Curry (basketball), Charlie Blackmon (baseball), Ryan O’Reilly (hockey), Joey Logano (auto racing), Joel Rosario aboard Sir Winston (horse racing).
His selection as the Hickok Belt® Award winner for the month of June 2019 recognizes Kawhi Leonard as “the best of the best” in professional sports for the month and makes him the sixth candidate eligible to receive the overall Hickok Belt® Award for 2019, joining Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods, Kyle Busch, Julian Edelman and Tom Brady.
To learn more about the Hickok Belt® Award and its history, please visit www.hickokbelt.com.
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