The Toronto Raptors finally broke through in 2019 after a long and trying quest to finally take over the NBA throne. The Raptors advanced to the playoffs as a high seed time and time again, only to run into LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers which would often mark the end of their road.
However with James now in LA, this was a perfect season for the Raptors to make a run and they did just that behind the Herculean play of Kawhi Leonard. There was something else that also fueled the Raptors’ turn around this last season: the criticism the team and president Masai Ujiri received in years past. On a recent ediiton of ‘The Starters’ podcast, the group discussed the Raptors finally overcoming the hump and recalled one instance Ujiri discussed their shortcomings in the past and how they motivated him.
“I spoke to Masai actually before Game 5 and he said last year after the Raptors got killed and humiliated by LeBron and the Cavs, people were sending him text messages and showing him the LeBronto stuff. He said, ‘That hurt me so much, that just cut me so much inside.’ And he goes, ‘I just couldn’t let that be the last sort of thing that people remember of my time with the Raptors. I had to go out there and improve the team and do whatever it took.'”
Of course, the ‘LeBronto’ term was coined due to LeBron James’ annual dominance over Toronto and the Raptors when the playoffs came around. However, in the end, coming up short every year to LeBron is what fueled the Raptors and got them over the hump. The addition of Kawhi Leonard likely didn’t hurt either.
It’s admirable to see though that Masai Ujiri and the Raptors didn’t fold once it looked like they would never get to that next level. Instead, they used their failures as fuel and now stand alone atop the NBA world.
