Kawhi Leonard
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50 free Kawhi Leonard trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Kawhi Leonard may be the quietest superstar in basketball, which is exactly why his nicknames are so memorable. Each one has a story behind it, from his enormous hands to a single burst of laughter in front of reporters. This quiz covers those nicknames and the career that earned them: his college years, the draft-night trade that sent him to the Spurs, championships and Finals MVP awards with two different teams, one of the most famous shots in playoff history, and his years with the Clippers. It is written for NBA fans of every level. Casual viewers will recognise the big moments, while the later questions dig into teammates, coaches, injuries and records that only close followers will know.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Kawhi Leonard's exceptionally large hands and ball-hawking defense earned him which nickname?
The Klaw
The Klaw, also spelled Claw, suits a defender whose hands measured 11 inches when scouts sized him up before the 2011 draft.
Q 02Kawhi Leonard earned which nickname by describing himself, with a surprising laugh, at a 2018 media day?
Fun Guy
Fun Guy became a running joke because the famously reserved star, asked to describe himself for Toronto fans, burst into laughter that startled nearly everyone in the room.
Q 03Kawhi Leonard hit the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history in 2019 to eliminate which team?
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers lost 92–90 when his shot from the corner bounced on the rim four times before dropping through.
Q 04Kawhi Leonard played two seasons of college basketball at which California school?
San Diego State
San Diego State went 34–3 in his second season and reached the Sweet 16, and in 2020 the school retired his jersey number.
Q 05Which team drafted Kawhi Leonard 15th overall in 2011, only to trade him to San Antonio that night?
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers held his rights only briefly, sending the future two-time Finals MVP away for a point guard born and raised in their own city.
Q 06Kawhi Leonard won Finals MVP in 2014 against which team, a rematch of the 2013 Finals?
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat had won the 2013 meeting in seven games; a year later San Antonio took the series 4–1 and he shot 61 percent.
Q 07Kawhi Leonard's Raptors won the 2019 NBA title by beating which two-time defending champions?
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors fell in six games, making Toronto the first team based outside the United States to win an NBA championship.
Q 08Which Toronto Raptors star was traded to San Antonio in the 2018 deal that brought Kawhi Leonard north?
DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan had spent his first nine NBA seasons in Toronto, which made the swap a gamble for a team unsure its new star would stay beyond one year.
Q 09Kawhi Leonard left Air Jordan in 2018 to sign a multi-year endorsement deal with which shoe company?
New Balance
New Balance signed him in November 2018, seven months before his second championship, and went on to launch products in collaboration with him.
Q 10Which All-Star did the Clippers acquire from Oklahoma City in 2019 to pair with new signing Kawhi Leonard?
Paul George
Paul George cost the Clippers five first-round draft picks and two players, the price of landing both stars in a single summer.
Q 11Kawhi Leonard's self-given nickname Board Man points to his appetite for which basketball statistic?
Rebounds
Rebounds are known as boards in basketball slang, and he led his college conference in them as a freshman.
Q 12Which longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach guided Kawhi Leonard for his first seven NBA seasons?
Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich ran the Spurs for 29 seasons and won five championships, the last of them in 2014 with a 22-year-old Finals MVP.
Q 13Kawhi Leonard was the first winner of the NBA All-Star Game MVP award after it was renamed for which player?
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant had won the award four times, and the league renamed it in February 2020, three weeks after his death in a helicopter crash.
Q 21Kawhi Leonard's stoic manner fits which nickname of his, borrowed from an Arnold Schwarzenegger film title?
The Terminator
The Terminator sits beside Board Man and The Hand on his list of nicknames, a fitting label for a star who rarely gives interviews.
Q 22Kawhi Leonard filed a 2019 federal lawsuit against which sportswear giant over the copyright to his logo?
Nike
Nike is the parent company of Air Jordan, his former sponsor, and he claimed it had copyrighted the logo without his consent.
Q 23Kawhi Leonard finished second in the 2016 NBA MVP voting behind which sharpshooting point guard?
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry beat him to the award in the same season that the Spurs star was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second year running.
Q 14Which two-word term describes the scheduled rest games Kawhi Leonard sat out to protect his body?
Load management
Load management was the reason given for most of the 22 games he missed in Toronto's title season, and he went on to play all 24 playoff games.
Q 15Kawhi Leonard's Raptors beat which top-seeded team in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals?
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks owned the league's best record and led the series 2–0 before Toronto won four games in a row.
Q 16Kawhi Leonard's 2017 playoffs ended when he landed on which center's foot in the Western Conference finals?
Zaza Pachulia
Zaza Pachulia slid a foot under the landing shooter, and the NBA later changed its rules on reckless closeouts, a change that carries his name.
Q 17Kawhi Leonard won the 2014 title alongside Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili and which starting point guard?
Tony Parker
Tony Parker, Duncan and Ginóbili were playing their last NBA Finals together, so the trio's final title came as a new star took over.
Q 18Kawhi Leonard has primarily played which position during his NBA career?
Small forward
Small forward is his listed spot, though his reach lets him guard at least three positions and shadow the other team's best scorer.
Q 19Kawhi Leonard made a cameo in a 2021 music video by which Canadian rapper and singer?
Drake
Drake cast him in the comic video for Way 2 Sexy, released a few months after the Clippers star announced a hip hop project of his own.
Q 20Kawhi Leonard's Clippers lost a 3–1 series lead to which team in the 2020 Western Conference semifinals?
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets became the first NBA team to erase a 3–1 deficit twice in the same playoffs, and he made only 6 of 22 shots in Game 7.
Q 24Which first-year head coach led Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship?
Nick Nurse
Nick Nurse had been promoted from assistant the previous summer, replacing a coach who was fired and then named NBA Coach of the Year weeks later.
Q 25Which six-time All-Star point guard ran the offense for Kawhi Leonard's 2019 champion Toronto Raptors?
Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry is widely regarded as one of the greatest Raptors ever, and his steal set up his co-star's emphatic dunk late in the game that clinched that year's conference finals.
Q 26Kawhi Leonard missed the entire 2021–22 season after surgery on which knee ligament?
ACL
ACL surgery in July 2021 repaired a partial tear suffered during the playoffs, and the Clippers failed to reach the postseason without him.
Q 27Kawhi Leonard's Clippers finished the 2019–20 season inside the NBA Bubble at which Florida resort?
Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World hosted 22 teams behind closed doors, and he was named to the All-Bubble Second Team for his play in the seeding games.
Q 28Which billionaire owned the Los Angeles Clippers when Kawhi Leonard signed in 2019?
Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer, a former Microsoft chief executive, bought the team in 2014 for a reported $2 billion and later financed a new arena of its own.
Q 29When Kawhi Leonard won Finals MVP at age 22 in 2014, which Lakers legend was the only younger winner ever?
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson won it at 20 in 1980 and again at 22 in 1982, beating the Spurs star's mark by less than two months.
Q 30Kawhi Leonard was the first non-center since which Pistons star to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year?
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman won the award in 1990 and 1991 with Detroit, where he played mainly the same position and was sent to shut down the opponent's best player.