The Kawhi Leonard-less Raptors are 34-14 and third in the entire NBA.
Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet have missed 10 games each.
Norman Powell, Kyle Lowry, and Pascal Siakam have missed 11 games.
Marc Gasol has missed 13 games.
Some days, you just have to soak it in.
*Colin Kaepernick becomes face of Nike's 30th anniversary of "Just Do It" campaign.
Trump supporters: "I'll never purchase another Nike product again in my life!"
Nike:
The Toronto Raptors will be fine, by the way.
Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet for the future. A ton of money coming off the books at the end of next season.
Masai Ujiri is still in charge.
Oh, and they’re the reigning NBA champions. So that’s fun.
Paul George: “We didn’t have enough time together.”
Raptors: Traded for Marc Gasol in February, Kawhi Leonard was Mr. Load Management, OG Anunoby missed the playoffs, and Norman Powell/Kyle Lowry/Fred VanVleet all missed 17 or more games.
Not enough time together, though.
The Raptors were down 1-0 to Orlando and won four straight.
They were down 2-1 to Philadelphia and won in Game 7.
They were down 2-0 to Milwaukee and won four straight.
Adversity is nothing new. It's the Finals against the proven Warriors, but the Raptors can bounce back.
Kawhi Leonard
Kyle Lowry
Pascal Siakam
Marc Gasol
Danny Green
Fred VanVleet
Norman Powell
Serge Ibaka
OG Anunoby
Jodie Meeks
Patrick McCaw
Jeremy Lin
Eric Moreland
Chris Boucher
Malcolm Miller
Jordan Loyd
🏆
Jeremy Lin is an NBA champion.
Jeremy Lin attended Harvard.
Jeremy Lin has made a lot of money.
Jeremy Lin is also allowed to be upset and/or depressed sans judgement.
Shoutout to Toronto Raptors Twitter for pushing the stat that the team won more playoff rounds in their one season with Kawhi Leonard than the Los Angeles Clippers did in five seasons with both Leonard and Paul George.
Toronto today:
Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam didn’t play their best basketball last night. No denying that.
But damn. Trading them. Slandering them. Bashing them.
One is an All-Star. The other is likely All-NBA. Maybe take it down a notch.
Paul George called to congratulate Kawhi Leonard on winning a championship and then “it took on a life of its own.” After countless text messages, phone calls and two meetings at Drake’s house 👀, they were both home in LA. Here’s why that meant so much.
"Toronto is just all I’ve known — and all I’ve wanted to know. I never asked for a trade. Maybe this sounds naive, but I felt I could be one of those dudes who spends his whole career on one team." - Pascal Siakam in his Player's Tribune piece.
Damn man.
There were established names for hire. Masai Ujiri went with Nick Nurse.
Most fans wanted Jalen Suggs. Masai Ujiri took Scottie Barnes.
Masai took late picks and undrafted talent and gave them opportunity. They’re now All-Stars.
Godfather mode.
Russell Westbrook is 14 assists away from averaging a triple-double for a third-straight season.
Seriously ... that's absurd.
I feel like we've grown numb to this level of production from Russ, and only when he retires will we truly appreciate how crazy this all is.
Note: The Toronto Raptors’ fanbase will always love Kawhi Leonard and forever appreciate his major contributions to the championship run.
This season, though, is just so special. The team was left for dead when Kawhi left ... but look at that record.
It’s been a ton of fun.
Fred VanVleet
Gary Trent Jr.
OG Anunoby
Scottie Barnes
Pascal Siakam
Chris Boucher
Precious Achiuwa
Otto Porter Jr.
Thaddeus Young
Reminder: If the Raptors don’t trade for Kevin Durant, they’ll still be really damn good.
This isn’t a make or break scenario.
Fred VanVleet went undrafted.
Chris Boucher went undrafted.
Christian Koloko was picked in the second round.
Pascal Siakam was drafted 27th overall.
OG Anunoby was drafted 23rd overall.
My point is the Raptors’ front office is awesome.
Kawhi Leonard
Kyle Lowry
Pascal Siakam
Marc Gasol
Danny Green
Fred VanVleet
Norman Powell
Serge Ibaka
OG Anunoby
Jodie Meeks
Patrick McCaw
Jeremy Lin
Eric Moreland
Chris Boucher
Malcolm Miller
Jordan Loyd
Happy anniversary to these beautiful champions.
The Toronto Raptors improve to 12-4 by defeating the Sixers at home, where they remain undefeated.
No Lowry. No Ibaka. No Thomas.
Joel Embiid didn’t score a single point. Not ONE.
This team is un-fucking-real. An outstanding win.
The road to 78-4 continues.
“Warriors in 4.”
Raptors take Game 1.
“Fluke. Warriors in 5.”
Warriors take Game 2
“See? You’re never winning again.”
Raptors take Game 3.
“We’re hurt. Just wait until Klay and Kevin get back. You’re never winning again.”
That’s Twitter in a nutshell.
The Toronto Raptors just went into enemy territory without their All-Star point guard and an ailing Rookie of the Year and blew out an MVP candidate and NBA75 member on their home floor.
They made Philadelphia fans boo their own team and leave early.
“Luka was Rookie of the Year in Slovenia, Giannis, MVP from Greece and you have Siakam from Cameroon. What other league can say that?”
Kevin Love shows respect to the rise of international players in the NBA
Some people are trying to downplay LeBron James whipping the basketball at Scottie Barnes like that, which is fine. Whatever.
But if the roles were reversed, LeBron would have been going for blood and Scottie probably would have got the boot. That’s my two cents.
Kyle Lowry
Danny Green
Kawhi Leonard
Pascal Siakam
Marc Gasol
Fred VanVleet
Norman Powell
Serge Ibaka
Say what you will about injuries and what not, but the 2019 Raptors were loaded and will age gracefully in the history books.