Henry Roldán
On June 13, 2019, the Toronto Raptors entered the history books by achieving a great feat with their first NBA title.
That is why today, Monday, June 13, 2022, three years after that victory, the city of Toronto and all of Canada continue to celebrate the triumph that has them as the first and only organization that does not reside in the United States to take the championship of the best basketball in the world.
But that’s not it. The victory of the Toronto Raptors also had other ingredients that spiced up the title, such as their rivals: the Golden State Warriors.
After finishing second in the Eastern Conference in the regular round with a record of 58-24, Toronto dispatched the Magic, the 76ers and the Bucks to face the heavy favorites to repeat the championship.
Let’s keep in mind that for that edition Golden State was in search of its third championship in a row, something that only the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Bulls have achieved.
With Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson in their ranks, no one doubted the Warriors could pull off the feat for the storied Golden State franchise. However, the Raptors had another idea in mind.
After split victories in Toronto, the series moved to Golden State, where the Raptors won three of their four games to finish 4-2.
In this way, there was madness all over the Canadian city, where the team was received as heroes by hundreds of thousands of followers who were finally able to taste the honey of victory after five consecutive postseasons falling short.
Kawhi Leonard Was the MVP of the Toronto Raptors
If Kawhi Leonard was already part of the NBA basketball elite, that season with the Toronto Raptors ended with the few remaining doubts about his leadership as a player.
In the six games played against Golden State, he ended up averaging almost a double-double with 28.5 points per game and 9.8 rebounds, in addition to showing his skills as a great defender with 2.0 steals per game.
Leonard ended up winning the MVP of the series and thus joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only three players to win this award with different teams, since in the 2013-2014 season he had achieved it with the San Antonio Spurs.
