For a while there, it looked as if the grand Kawhi Leonard experiment wound wind up an abject failure. Notwithstanding the strides they had made since trading for him in the offseason, they didn’t risk letting go of erstwhile top dog DeMar DeRozan just so they could again be eliminated early. They were angling for the first-ever opportunity to vie for the Larry O’Brien Trophy and, in the process, turn him into much more than a one-year rental. In their progress, they figured his fruitful experience in the driver’s seat would entice him to stay on and keep doing the job for the foreseeable future. And, certainly, losing Games One and Two of the East Finals wasn’t the way to convince him.
Still, the Raptors kept the faith. Even as the Bucks, holders of the league’s best regular-season record, appeared on the way to meeting expectations and booking a seat in the Finals, they believed they had all the tools necessary to overcome their status as underdogs. Among other things, they had Leonard on their side, and his machine-like demeanor rubbed off on them. For all their travails in the playoffs, he could not be ruffled. In fact, he never seemed to fail in delivering the goods exactly when he needed to; not for nothing was he, for instance, able to come up with the first Game Seven buzzer beater in National Basketball Association history.
And so the Raptors took their cue from Leonard, first in surviving double overtime in Game Three, and then in overcoming significant fourth-quarter deficits in Games Four, Five, and Six to make franchise history. Their victories weren’t pretty; he rescued them in the half court often, and especially when rotation regulars made disappearing acts. That said, they proved unassailable on the other end of the court; they were all superb individual defenders, but even better as a collective in stifling the egalitarian Bucks. In particular, they kept presumptive Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo in check and, in the process, underscored that their own superstar was by far brighter in the crunch.
The Raptors don’t fit the mold of usual league finalists, and they’re proud of their uniqueness. To their credit, they’ve taken on the character of their acknowledged leader, on whose shoulders they’re glad to hitch. No doubt, they’re motivated by their us-against-the-world mentality, but the pressure to produce exists all the same. After all, they continue to climb uphill — in the Finals against the powerhouse Warriors, and then in free agency versus the weight being brought to bear by myriad suitors on Leonard’s doorstep.
At this point, it’s fair to declare the Raptors’ season a success. Don’t tell that to them, though; in their eyes, they’re nowhere near to the end of their less-traveled road to respect and respectability. And with Leonard at the helm, they’re fully committed to finishing the trek.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
