When the Toronto Raptors initially won the 2019 title I stated that it was the most fraudulent championship I have seen in a major team sport because of the injuries to their Finals opposition Golden State. I was of the mindset that if the Warriors were healthy then there would be little to no possibility that Toronto would have beaten them. As the Golden State Warriors led by the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green were not just the best NBA team ever, but the best professional sports team ever. Durant missed essentially the entire Finals series and Klay Thompson who was also one of the core members of Golden State missed a significant portion of the series as well. Because I was of the mindset that there is no way that Toronto would have won if Golden State was healthy, I labeled the 2019 Toronto Raptors Championship as the most fraudulent in team sports history. I also viewed/labeled the 2019 Raptors title as the one title in team sports history that indeed deserved an asterisk next to it. Although I still believe that there was little to no possibility that the Raptors would have beaten a healthy Golden State that season. I have since come around to the thinking that Toronto deserves full credit for their championship triumph in the 2018-2019 NBA season for several reasons.
Firstly, Toronto deserves credit for maintaining the health of their team in a greater fashion than Golden State did. For instance, by load managing their most talented player in Kawhi Leonard in the regular season in a league where the regular season is becoming increasingly more irrelevant. Whereas the Warriors did not load manage their most talented player in Durant in the regular season. The Warriors also played/prepared in a fashion that exposed them to injuries more when compared to Toronto who played/prepared in a fashion that sustained their health. The first injury that Klay Thompson suffered in the 2019 Finals, he spread his legs in a very awkward fashion after shooting a three pointer to ostensibly try to get a foul called on him. It was not needed for him to spread his legs like that, but in an attempt to manipulate the referees, he did so. That awkward unnecessary motion directly led to him getting injured the first time in the series leading to him missing the rest of game 2 and all of game 3. Golden State was able to survive the rest of game 2 without him but unfortunately lost in game 3 without him. Thompson’s second injury that he suffered also directly stemmed from unnecessary action. Thompson tore his ACL in game 6 while going up for a contested fastbreak dunk. Going up for a contested fastbreak dunk is likely the most dangerous and injury exposing play an NBA player can possibly indulge in. Thompson deciding to engage in such an act where at best he would get an and-one opportunity and at worst he would suffer a major injury, was not a wise decision on his behalf. The worst case scenario unfortunately did occur and the Warriors paid the price for it. Additionally, the strained calf that Durant suffered in the 2019 Conference Finals before facing Toronto was indeed unfortunate and there was likely next to nothing the Warriors could have done to prevent it. As sometimes injuries are somewhat random and not within a team’s or a player’s control. But if the Warriors load managed their aging most talented player in Durant in an almost meaningless regular season like the Raptors did with their top player in Leonard. The initial calf strain suffered by Durant would likely not have occurred. Durant when he suffered the calf strain was on the wrong side of 30 years old and was already a very slim player without a muscular build on a third consecutive deep playoff run. Durant for those reasons in particular was injury prone, perhaps the Warriors should have limited his regular season action just as the Raptors did with Leonard as a result. The Warriors’ handling of the injury to Durant after the initial calf strain was their undoing and led to Durant eventually suffering a Torn Achilles Tendon. The Warriors should have not lost two consecutive home games in the 2019 Finals and have been down 3-1 in the series without Durant forcing a game 5 elimination game and Durant perhaps being forced back early. The Warriors in game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals which was Durant’s return, also started Durant and stated there would be no minutes restriction on him, which was clearly a mistake. If the Warriors had played their cards better in games 1-4 without Durant, having the series be at at least 2-2, instead of being up against the wall at 3-1. Perhaps the Warriors could have brought back Durant in game 6 off the bench with a minutes restriction at home. If Durant had gotten additional rest and been on a minutes restriction, he likely would have not suffered the Achilles Tendon tear leading to his series ending after just playing for 15 minutes in it. Even then the Warriors in game 5 where they were facing elimination should have brought Durant off the bench and/or had a minutes restriction on him. If they did, I would have been surprised if he tore his Achilles Tendon. The Raptors managed the health of their team in a greater fashion than the Warriors did that season/postseason and deserve full credit for doing so.
Secondly, almost every team who wins the title whether it be in the championship round or not, has had another team who was stiff competition that year deal with major injuries. The 2024-25 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL had the Detroit Lions who finished with a higher seed than them in the NFC deal with catastrophic defensive injuries in a postseason loss. The 2023-24 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs did not have to face the Bengals with a healthy Joe Burrow in the postseason. With Joe Burrow being the only QB in the NFL that many state to be better than Mahomes when he is healthy. Along with the Bengals being led by Burrow being the only active team with their current QB to have beaten the Chiefs in the playoffs at that point. The 2022-23 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs saw the 49ers who were amongst the elite class of the NFL and perhaps the only franchise at that point consistently on the level as Kansas City, lose four different QBs to injury. The 2016-2017 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors saw Kawhi Leonard who was arguably the best player in the Western Conference who led a Spurs team who many viewed to be the only real threat to Golden State that season, suffer a season ending injury in the Conference Championship vs the Warriors. Scenarios like that occur in pretty much every season for every sport as well. We just notice it more and put perhaps a bit of a mental asterisk on it when it occurs in the championship round like it did with Toronto in 2019. But what happened with the Raptors in 2019, the Warriors in 2015, the Lakers in 2020, and the Pistons in 1989, along with others, where the championship opposition suffered big injures in and/or just before the title round is no different than what happens for the title winning team almost every year in every sport. We just pay attention to it more if it occurs in/around the title round like it did with Toronto in 2019. We also pay attention to it more in the case of Toronto in 2019 because the opposition was clearly better when healthy. As the Finals opposition in the case of the 2019 Raptors was better than arguably any professional sports team ever when healthy. Whereas in the case of the 2015 Warriors, the 2020 Lakers, and the 1989 Pistons, those title winning teams who saw their NBA Finals opposition suffer big injures in/around the championship series were visibly neck and neck and/or better than their opposition at full health to begin with.
Thirdly, I view the 2019 Finals in the following fashion. Just like Michael Jordan was not there in the 1994 postseason when the Rockets won the title. Kevin Durant was not there in the latter portion of the 2019 postseason when Toronto won it all. Just like Tom Brady was not there in the 2008-2009 NFL season when the Steelers won it all. Kevin Durant was not there in the 2019 postseason when Toronto won it all. Would the Rockets have won the title if Jordan were there? Likely not. Would the Raptors have won the title if Durant were there? Likely not. Would the Steelers have won the Super Bowl that year if Brady was healthy? Maybe not. The natural circumstance of those seasons/series was those players not being there. Durant was not on the Warriors in the 2019 Finals just like Durant was not on the Warriors in the 2015 or the 2016 NBA finals. Does the Cavs win over the Warriors in the 2016 Finals deserve an asterisk and/or should be viewed as fraudulent because of no Kevin Durant being present on the Warriors that year? Is the Rockets title in 1994 fraudulent? Is the Steelers Super Bowl in the 2008-09 season fraudulent? Similar questions like that exist for almost every title winning team in almost every season in every sport. So is almost every championship won by almost every team in every sport fraudulent/deserving of an asterisk?
Fourthly, the Raptors beating the rest of that Warriors team without Kevin Durant being present was still a remarkable accomplishment. The rest of the Warriors team without Durant was still comprised of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. The core three players of a team who set the all time regular season wins record and who were a 3-1 lead away in the NBA finals, and perhaps a Draymond Green suspension away, from being crowned as the greatest NBA team ever. Golden State with those core three players since then had also added DeMarcus Cousins to the mix. Who when on his A game is amongst the most talented big men in basketball history. All the three core players were still in their prime, with Demarcus Cousins, although coming off a big injury, still being under 30 years old. Head coach Steve Kerr and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala were still there for Golden State as well in the 2019 NBA Finals. Many point to the absence of Klay Thomspon for the Warriors at the end of game 2, for all of game 3, and for the end of game 6, which is a fair point. However, those same people fail to mention the absence of OG Anunoby for Toronto for the entirety of the series. Being so young , Anunoby was more of a role player for the Raptors that year, despite that, his loss still hurt the Raptors. Anunoby was a role player for Toronto that season and was not the caliber of player/as important for his team as Thompson was for Golden State that year. However, OG Anunoby was still an important part of that Toronto team and Anunoby eventually blossomed into a very good NBA player as his career progressed beyond the 2019 season. Anunoby eventually became a player of nearly Klay Thompson’s caliber at Thompson’s peak once Anunoby gained more experience/playing time in the league. Anunoby missing the entire series is almost the equivalent of Thompson missing game 3 and the ends of game 2 and game 6 in the 2019 Finals in my estimation. It should also be noted that the Raptors against the Warriors without Durant and with Klay Thomspon healthy in the lineup were 2-0 against Golden State heading into game 5. The Warriors won game 5 with Thompson fully healthy in the lineup but with Durant playing 15 minutes. If the Warriors did not receive Durant’s contributions in that game 5, I think they would have lost that close fought game that went down to the wire. Likely pushing their record against Toronto, with all major players expect Durant healthy in the lineup, to 0-3 in the series. The Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals, against the rest of the Warriors team without Durant, which was still led by a core of players and a coach who came within a suspension of fielding the greatest NBA team ever and who added a historically great big man to it, were clearly the superior team to that Warriors team. If it was not for Durant’s contributions in game 5, the Raptors could have easily won the series in five games against the core of a team who came within inches of being the greatest team ever who also added a historically talented big man still under 30 years old to that said core. By that last sentence one could certainly crown the 2019 Raptors as one of the greatest NBA teams ever instead of saying they won the most fraudulent title ever.
Fifthly, the injury to Durant was the basketball gods evening things out. The concept of Kevin Durant who is one of the 2-3 most talented players in NBA history joining a team who set the all time wins record and who came within a game/a suspension away from going down as the greatest team ever was ridiculous, but it indeed happened. One could certainly argue that Durant on the Warriors was an unfair advantage and the injury to him prior to the 2019 Finals and during the 2019 Finals was the basketball gods evening things out. The injury to Durant prior to/during the 2019 NBA Finals, although I never wish for others to be hurt and/or celebrate others being hurt, was beautiful in a way. It leveled the playing field and it stripped away the unfair advantage a team likely had. It gave a franchise and a country the opportunity to win a title that it otherwise would not have had with another organization having likely an unfair edge. One could argue that the Warriors’ titles in the 2017 and 2018 seasons were fraudulent/deserved an asterisk because of the presence of Durant, who was an all-time great player who joined perhaps the all-time greatest team, which was an unfair advantage. The one championship series/game I can think of in any sport where team A won primarily because of injurie(s) to team B was the 2019 NBA Finals. Which is why at first I labeled the title as the most fraudulent I have ever seen. However, it should come as perhaps not a coincident that the one championship in any sport I can remember where a team lost primarily because of injurie(s), was the one instance in any sport where I can remember a team having an unfair advantage over the rest of the league. The injurie(s) to Golden State leveled out the playing field and stripped away their unfair advantage over the rest of the NBA.
Sixthly, injuries are a natural part of sports. In many title series in all sports there are injuries to account for on either or both sides. With Durant out of the picture many point to Klay Thompson’s injury on top of it to strip the Raptors of credit. But the Raptors had injuries of their own as well in particular to OG Anunoby who eventually turned into a Klay Thompson caliber player. With Durant out of the picture, was the rest of the Warriors team still more injured than the Raptors? Absolutely. As Thompson was an All-Star and OG Anunoby at that point was just a role player. Not to mention Warriors’ role player Kevon Looney missing a game as well. The Warriors without Durant were the slightly more injured team than Toronto was. In sports, where injuries are such a natural part of the game, Golden State without Durant could have used the fact that they were more slightly more injured to their advantage like the 2017-18 Super Bowl Champion Eagles and several others did. Knowing that, one could argue that the Warriors without Durant were at an advantage to Toronto despite being more slightly more injured in particular with Thompson missing some time.
In totality, the Raptors deserve full credit for the 2019 finals triumph which at first I viewed to be fraudulent/deserving of an asterisk. As one could make similar arguments for almost every team who wins the title in every sport each year as to why the title was fraudulent/deserving of an asterisk. Including for the Warriors the previous two seasons prior to the 2019 Finals. Its not luck its hard work, is what a fellow friend of mine who was a Raptors fan told me when Toronto won it all in 2019 after I stated the title was the most fraudulent I have seen. Luck is when hard work meets opportunity to reference a corny but true cliché. The Raptors had a great team that was maybe being oppressed by the Warriors possessing perhaps an unfair advantage because of Durant’s addition/presence on an already historically great title winning team. The Raptors hard work in building that great team was met by the opportunity of Durant suffering an injury. The Raptors compared to the rest of that Warriors team without Durant was clearly superior. Toronto beating the rest of that Warriors team without Durant was still a remarkable and borderline historic accomplishment. Toronto did not have a say in the Warriors’ injuries and they played who was in front of them and Toronto deserves credit for maintaining the health of their team in a greater fashion than Golden State did. The presence of Durant on the Warriors was likely an unfair advantage and one cannot say with 100% certainty that the Warriors would have won the title that year if Durant indeed was healthy. Bottom line is, if you win the title in any sport in any year, you deserve full credit no matter what. One could make similar arguments nearly every season in every sport for titles deserving asterisks/being fraudulent as well.