Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Kawhi Leonard's big hands can be a problem sometimes.
- Kawhi Leonard says his hands are so big that he sometimes has trouble shooting the ball.
- Leonard also said his hands, which were measured at 11.5 inches across, come in handy for rebounds, steals, and dunks.
- Leonard's nickname is "The Klaw" because of his hands and has already pulled off some incredible feats with his hands this postseason.
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Kawhi Leonard is nicknamed "The Klaw" for the massive mittens that allow him to do so much on the court.
However, Leonard himself has said that the size of his hands can actually be a problem when he's playing.
While speaking with Serge Ibaka on the series "How Hungry Are You?", Leonard said he sometimes has trouble shooting because of his large hands.
"It's just kinda difficult shooting sometimes," Leonard said. "It's just difficult. A lot of hard work. You know, sometimes, like, if you shoot a girl's basketball, it's smaller, it's hard to shoot it, hard to roll off your hands. So, some games or some shots that I do shoot it, it'll be too far in my hands, so I have to really focus on that."
Leonard did say that his hands are helpful for steals, rebounds, and dunks.
Leonard's hands were measured at 11.5 inches before the 2011 NBA draft. He once measured them next to Shaquille O'Neal's, and they were about the same size, despite Leonard being about six inches shorter than O'Neal.
via TNT
Leonard has shown off what he can do with his hands in this postseason. In the conference finals, Leonard made an incredible, but subtle move when he caught the ball with one hand, palmed it, faked a one-handed pass, then went into his move, all in one motion.
Leonard is so synonymous with his hands that his personal logo when he was with Jordan Brand was a hand that formed the initial "K.L." Leonard reportedly drew it himself.
Even if Leonard sometimes has trouble shooting the ball, he shot 37% from three-point range in the regular season and is at nearly 39% in the postseason. Any struggles releasing the ball are worth it for the advantages that come with his hands.
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
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