Despite staying out of the public spotlight and keeping a low profile as always, Kawhi Leonard has surprisingly been an interesting talking point in recent weeks. It has nothing to do with anything the player has said himself, however, but rather what others have been saying about him. Michael Jordan recently sparked a debate by calling Leonard "the best two-way player in the league", which was seriously high praise from His Airness. M.J. isn't the only former player to have made a comment about the San Antonio Spurs star, though, with Penny Hardaway sparking some controversy in regards to the small forward this week. In an interview on Sirius XM's NBA radio show 'Bottomline', Hardway apparently claimed that the two-time Defensive Player of the Year was not a 'superstar'.“Superstar? No. Kawhi Leonard is not a superstar because he has no interest in being the face of the league or starring in TV commercials,” Hardaway said. “He’s a good player, but I wouldn’t consider him a superstar player.”

As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir and the former Orlando Magic star was widely criticised for his comments as Kawhi is considered to be among the best players in the NBA. 

However, it appears Hardaway was misquoted and his words were taken out of context. During the full interview, he did call Leonard a superstar but wanted to differentiate from what he does on and off the floor. 

His exact quote was as follows:

“Actually, you know what, I can give Kawhi superstar (status). Because he’s just not a guy that likes commercials, he’s not a guy that wants to be the face of the league. He just wants to get his work done. … But he would be a superstar to me, for sure, because he handles his own with anybody in the league.”

Basically, Hardaway is acknowledging that the Spurs All-Star is a superstar on the court with his production but doesn't carry himself like a superstar off it as he isn't interested in the fame and the marketing side of the game, which is a fair point.  

Hardway was stunned by the reaction to his words and took to Instagram to clarify what he meant, before deleting the post. 

According to the San Antonio Express-News, he wrote: 

“Calm down people. I never said that Kawhi wasn’t a superstar. I know that he is a superstar. I only stated that he doesn’t like the media and endorsement side of being a superstar. Best 2 way player in the league.”

With an NBA title, Finals MVP, two All-Star appearances and multiple All-NBA and All-Defensive selections already on his resume at the age of 26, Kawhi is definitely a superstar and this shouldn't be up for debate at all.