Along with famed shooting coach Chip Engelland, Forcier was assigned to work closely with Leonard. Asking him to meld the mechanics of Kobe Bryant and Richard Jefferson, the coaches outlined how they planned to tweak his shooting technique, but the NBA lockout put an end to their work after just a few sessions. That was in June, and it wasn’t until late December, when the NBA resumed, that the Spurs got to check back with their top rookie. They were surprised and encouraged to see that Leonard had almost completely reworked his shot, based on the few days of instruction from Engelland and Forcier. “He was a sponge who was very eager to learn, very willing to listen,” says Forcier. “But as we got to know Kawhi, it was obvious that he had a deep burn as well. No matter how quiet or reserved he may be, the competitive streak inside of him is hot and his desire to grow and become a great player was evident.”

Leonard quickly won over Popovich, who started the rookie in each playoff game that 2011–12 season and began putting the ball in his hands more on offence. His game just kept expanding, Forcier recalls. He would soak up new skills — like scoring from the low-post — sometimes even picking up fresh techniques at shootaround and deploying them in a game later that day. With his offensive attack sharpening and his defensive instincts second-to-none, Leonard was becoming arguably the league’s premier two-way player.

That success brought more confidence, which manifested both on and off the court. Leonard began to offer glimpses of personality that had previously been reserved for his teammates, friends and family. He co-starred with a few fellow Spurs in a string of commercials for H-E-B, a Texas grocery chain. In one he nonchalantly palms a giant ball of laundry while his teammates stand in awe and compare his hand to a bear’s paw. In another, dressed in a smoking jacket he shatters his reputation for monosyllables by uttering a single word: “indubitably.”

As his celebrity grew, more was asked of Leonard away from the court. He was flooded with interview requests, most of which he turned down. Potential endorsement deals, H-E-B aside, mostly got the same treatment. When he was asked in the summer of 2014 whether he felt companies had offered enough money for his services, Leonard told the San Antonio Express-News, “Not as much as I want for me to not shoot the basketball that day.”

Joel Anthony was a 10-year veteran entering his final NBA season when he joined the Spurs in 2016. He recalls arriving for an informal off-season scrimmage in San Antonio. Anthony had played with the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen, and was on the Miami team that beat the Spurs in 2013. He knew what Leonard was capable of, but was still taken aback by the fire he brought to the meaningless game. “He was all over people,” Anthony says. “Guys were scared to bring the ball past half-court. He was playing at such an intense level; everything was under control but also extremely aggressive. I was so impressed.”

Forcier has experienced the same surprise: “Because he was so quiet and, by nature, very reserved, you didn’t have any indication of how confident or comfortable he could become under the most intensely scrutinized pressure moments. Now we know. He’s one who, when the lights get brightest and the stakes get the highest, has proven that he can rise up and perform.”