One day this summer, tourists from all over the world who had flocked to see one of its most awe-inspiring spectacles found a little more than they had expected.

There, atop the Great Wall of China, stood a tall, stoic American, wearing cornrows and holding a basketball as a professional photographer snapped pictures.

Many of the tourists stopped to point and gawk. Some wanted to meet him. And later, Kawhi Leonard was asked if he really is as popular in China as it looked.

“At the moment, yeah,” Leonard said.

With those four words, the Spurs’ star forward acknowledged that he realizes much of what he has attained during his ascent to superstardom — the fame, the marketability, the status as one of the NBA’s best players — could be fleeting.

But few expect him to drop off any time soon. And the theme of those photographs he posed for atop the Great Wall could provide a glimpse of how his image could benefit him in a pursuit of the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

More than any other front-runner, Leonard stands alone.

He would never admit this, of course. No one praises Leonard’s teammates more than he does, and he would not dream of suggesting that LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol have not exactly provided him with the same amount of support as, say, James Harden figures to receive this season from Chris Paul.

But the popular narrative on Leonard is shifting, and over the next eight months he could start to get the kind of credit many have been reluctant to award him in the past.

During his initial breakout in the 2014 postseason, and then in the All-NBA years that followed, the tendency was to think of Leonard as a player who benefitted from older players like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, or from his coach, or from his system.

Leonard, the popular consensus went, was not the type of player who carried a team with his singular excellence, the way a LeBron James or James Harden or Steph Curry or Russell Westbrook did. So even though he received plenty of MVP votes, he never was seen as a legitimate favorite.

And true, some of those dynamics have not changed. Leonard still plays for the coach widely considered to be the best in the league, and in the system that historically has been most conducive to sustained success.

But look around the league, examine the teams that are expected to win 50 games, and try to find one of them more dependent on a single player than the Spurs are on Leonard.

Harden has Paul now. Westbrook has Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Curry has Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward teamed up together in Boston.

As always, LeBron James remains the king, and his value to the Cavaliers remains on par with Leonard’s to the Spurs. But Isaiah Thomas and Kevin Love were All-Stars last year. None of Leonard’s fellow Spurs were.

So in this era of super teams, Leonard is the guy flying solo, whether or not he fesses up to it. In his typical understated fashion, Leonard said earlier this preseason that he expects to fill the “same role as (he) did last year, just putting in an extra punch, an extra drive of energy.”

And as for whether he is worried about the way the rest of the league’s powerhouses stocked up on high-profile talent?

“They have to figure out how their systems are going to work,” Leonard said. “So if I’m focused on a different team, it’s just taking away from what we’re doing here. We have to make sure we’re the best basketball team, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

To be sure, Leonard will require help. Aldridge needs to play better than he did a year ago, and it would be beneficial if acquisitions like Rudy Gay and Brandon Paul occasionally take some of the load off of Leonard’s shoulders.

If they do, Leonard will remain at the center of it all, and there is a good chance he will put up the kind of numbers that will be difficult to ignore. And when it comes time for voters to decide who the most valuable player in the league is?

Maybe Leonard will realize his popularity lasted longer than just a moment.

mfinger@express-news.net

Twitter: @mikefinger