Last night at the Oracle Arena, the Toronto Raptors shut out the Golden State Warriors 114-110. Defeating them in six games, and bringing home the Raptors’ organization first NBA Championship.
Kawhi Leonard was named the Finals MVP. He was dominant throughout the series, averaging 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. This was his second time winning the Finals MVP award, his first being with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. With this award, he joins good company in being one of the only three players to earn Finals MVPs with two different franchises.
This particular series had Spurs fans in between a rock and a hard place. Many had to make a hard decision to root for their Western rivals, the Golden State Warriors, or the Toronto Raptors- who obtained Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green through a trade in exchange for Demar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a draft pick. Some even made a decision to not root for anyone, and decided to skip the NBA Finals altogether.
The reason many Spurs fans did not have good wishes for the Raptors was because Leonard allegedly “quit” on the San Antonio Spurs.
It was rumored that there was miscommunication and mistrust between Leonard’s camp and the Spurs. This bad blood began after an alleged “misdiagnosis” of Leonards’ injury. Since the only vocal side of this rift was the Spurs’ camp, and Kawhi was strangely silent throughout the whole debacle, many Spurs’ fans had no choice but to believe that Kawhi did in fact quit on a team that he said he wanted to remain with throughout his entire career.
When the Raptors faced the Spurs at the AT&T Center, Spurs’ fans did not hold back their frustration with Kawhi Leonard. Despite the Spurs’ organization showing a tribute video for Leonard on the big screen prior the game starting, he was still rained upon with boos throughout the entire game.
Now that Kawhi won another championship with his new team, many Spurs’ fans did not hold their feelings back regarding this win. Many Spurs fans congratulated Danny Green only- purposefully leaving out well wishes for Kawhi Leonard.
Many also took to Twitter and vented their frustrations towards “The Klaw” as well. The most notable “salty” Spurs’ fan, and perhaps the most outspoken was FS1’s Skip Bayless. Skip fired off on multiple “salty” tweets, to include the following:
Now to be fair, Skip Bayless does not speak for all San Antonio fans, and truthfully, not all Spurs’ fans were salty (side note: the term “salty” is slang for upset). Some despise the Warriors so much, that they actually do have well wishes for Kawhi Leonard. Many can also appreciate the fact that former Spurs’ won a ring for San Antonio as well.
Also, truth be told, there is no reason for Spurs’ fans to be salty.
Although it is bittersweet (bitter if you ask others) that the Raptors won a ring, there are a lot of positives that the Spurs can look forward to next year.
Dejounte Murray and rookie Lonnie Walker will be playing next season; bringing a defensive, youthful fire power that the Spurs’ team needs to push them to the next level. The Spurs’ also have an impeccable 22-year playoff history record, and have solidified themselves as a strong, smart organization.
Not to mention, the Spurs’ also have arguably one of the best coaches in their corner in Gregg Popovich. They will undoubtedly be in a much better position next year. Plus, there isn’t bad blood or negative energy sweeping through the locker room. Who wants their favorite team to deal with that?
My personal sentiments throughout this entire situation are simple. I truly blame Zaza Pachulia for all of this. If it wasn’t for his play that led to Kawhi’s injury in the first place, leading the NBA to create the “Zaza Pachulia” rule. None of this would have ever happened.
Karma collided yesterday evening. Since a Warriors’ player gave Kawhi his season ending injury in 2017, and Kawhi is celebrating his victory against the Warriors today.
Thoughts?
