A Golden State Warriors player comments on Kawhi Leonard in an unexpected way.

One of the biggest shocks in the NBA this season has been Brandin Podziemski, a rookie with the Golden State Warriors. Even though Podziemski was one of the draft’s most NBA-ready talents, Steve Kerr seldom starts rookies in his normal rotation; at the moment, Podziemski starts ahead of Klay Thompson.

Podziemski responded to a question about his favorite NBA memories during All-Star Weekend by saying, “On November 30th, we played the Clippers at home. I didn’t contact Kawhi Leonard even though I was called for a foul. We oversaw it and prevailed in the contest. However, only to observe the sort of calls NBA players receive. Other than Steph Curry.

Podziemski welcomed the NBA moment when he saw Leonard earn a foul call on a play in which he wasn’t touched. The Warriors prevailed in the challenge, proving Podziemski was right to refrain from touching Leonard, but among players of his class, the Clippers star has one of the harsher whistles.

Leonard is now rated 113th in terms of free throw rate and 44th in the NBA in terms of free throw attempts made per game, according to Basketball Reference. While it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact formula for evaluating a player’s whistle effectiveness, Leonard is unquestionably not among the elite who frequently get free points from the line.

Having said that, Podziemski still has a point and was right about that one bad decision he made earlier in the season against the Clippers.