Meyers Leonard

Meyers Patrick Leonard (born February 27, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

In high school, Leonard was named a member of the 2010 Illinois All-State Team as selected by the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, News-Gazette, and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Leonard led Robinson High School to the IHSA class 2A state championship before choosing to play collegiate basketball at the University of Illinois.

As a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 2010–11, Leonard averaged 2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in 8.2 minutes per game for the Fighting Illini.

Elle was friends with Mike Davis' girlfriend, and after Illinois' 2010–11 basketball season, their relationship developed.

Their first date was five hours long at the University of Illinois gym.

The pair spent two hours of shooting basketball and then three hours of talking, since she refused a dinner date.

Following the season he was invited to the June 17–24, 2011, 17-man tryouts for the 12-man FIBA Under-19 World Championship team by USA Basketball.

Leonard was one of 12 selected players that competed as Team USA in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championships in Latvia from June 30 – July 10, 2011, and placed fifth in the competition.

As a sophomore in 2011–12, Leonard averaged 13.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

Leonard was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on December 5, 2011, after averaging 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in two Illinois victories.

Leonard was also named Big Ten Player of the Week on December 26, 2011, after averaging 16.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game in two games.

Following the season, Leonard was named Honorable Mention All Big-10.

He then entered the NBA draft.

Leonard hosted Max Bielfeldt during his February 26 and 27, 2011 official visit and met Max's sister Elle for the first time.

He played college basketball for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini before being selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 11th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

Leonard was drafted with the 11th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA draft.

On July 13 he signed his rookie-scale contract with the Trail Blazers.

On October 31, 2012, Leonard made his NBA debut, logging 23 minutes and scoring four points against the Los Angeles Lakers.

He made his first career start on November 21, 2012, against the Phoenix Suns, finishing with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

On March 30, 2013, he had a season-best game with 22 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Leonard's numbers dipped from his rookie to sophomore season, falling behind fellow second-year big man Joel Freeland as the primary backup to starter Robin Lopez.

He saw action in 29 fewer games in 2013–14, with his minutes and points per game cut in half, as the Blazers transformed from a lottery team to a playoff contender.

On January 2, 2014, he had a season-best game with 8 points and 10 rebounds in a 134–104 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

In 2014–15, Leonard played only 13 total minutes in Portland's first 9 games as he was stuck in the big-man rotation behind Lopez, Freeland and Chris Kaman.

On November 15, 2014, with LaMarcus Aldridge scratched with an upper respiratory illness against the Brooklyn Nets, Leonard picked up the start at power forward, playing 29 minutes.

With his first major minutes at the power forward spot, he performed admirably, tallying 12 rebounds and hitting a three-pointer.

He went on to pick up DNPs in 11 of the next 12 games.

After spending his first seven seasons with the Trail Blazers, he was traded to the Miami Heat in the 2019 off-season.

He reached the NBA Finals with the Heat in 2020.

Leonard, born in Woodbridge, Virginia, grew up in Robinson, Illinois, a small town in southeastern Illinois.

When he was six years old, his father James, a golf pro, was killed in a freak bicycle accident.

His mother Tracie, once an athlete who would run upwards of 10 miles a day, had been largely housebound since her husband's death, due to an old horseback injury and subsequent disc surgery that left her with crippling pain.

When he was in second grade, the young Leonard gained a surrogate family.

Brian Siler, an insurance agent in Robinson who had a son of the same age, was aware of Leonard's family situation, and eventually became a father figure.

Leonard regularly attended the Silers' church and went on family vacations.

According to ESPN.com writer Dana O'Neil:

"'Looking to shoehorn the relationship into a convenient box, outsiders have called this Meyers' version of The Blind Side, but the comparison is inaccurate. The book and subsequent movie tell the story of Michael Oher, a boy who was homeless and didn't have much of a family life. Meyers Leonard has a family. It has not abandoned him. On the contrary, Tracie loves her son, loves him so much that she was willing to accept help.'"

Leonard entered high school as a guard, but was converted to center after a 6 in growth spurt between his freshman and sophomore years.

O'Neil called him "something of a basketball anomaly", adding that Leonard "gained all that height without losing his coordination or his fast-twitch muscles."