Penny Hardaway: 'Kawhi Leonard is not a superstar'

There is no objective criteria that defines what constitutes an NBA superstar, but to the extent that such a distinction is a measure of on-court production, it is impossible to make a case against San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard.

Through six NBA seasons, Leonard is already a Finals MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time All-NBA first teamer, and three-time All-Defensive first teamer. He's also finished in the top three in MVP voting the past two seasons. Some, however, feel true superstardom also requires an element of visibility and outspokenness that the introverted Leonard lacks.

"Superstar? No," said retired four-time All-Star Penny Hardaway on Sirius XM NBA Radio, according to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News. "Kawhi Leonard is not a superstar because he has no interest in being the face of the league or starring in TV commercials. He's a good player, but I wouldn't consider him a superstar player."

He may be right to assume Leonard isn't interested in being the face of the league, but Hardaway clearly hasn't seen Leonard's brilliant work in those H-E-B commercials.

After receiving a significant amount of backlash, Hardaway took to social media on Monday to clarify his comments.