Luck
Part of why the Raptors were such unlikely Champions is that on paper, they just didn’t look as good as the Golden State Warriors or the Milwaukee Bucks. And the answer to the riddle comes down to intangibles.
Now, I’m not talking about luck. That’s something else entirely. Four bounces for the ball to bounce in at the end of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals… that was a bit of luck. Kevin Durant being reinjured in Game 5 was a horrible situation and I hate that it happened, but there’s no denying, it was lucky for the Raptors.
But as the famous saying goes:
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
Sure, it was four bounces, but it took skill and smarts for Kawhi put that shot up in such a way that it even had a chance of going in. It also took preparation for the Raptors to make sure the ball got into Leonard’s hands in that crucial moment.
And sure, Durant went down in Game 5, but can we just take a moment to remember that the Raptors very nearly swept Golden State in the Finals? If not for an 18-0 run by the Warriors in Game 2, the Raptors could have easily won that game, which they only lost by five points. In which case, Game 5 never would have happened at all.
And let’s be completely honest for a moment. There’s no such thing as a Championship team that didn’t benefit from a little bit of luck at some point or another. Sometimes even a lot of luck. Every team that takes the floor has the exact same probability of luck being on their side. So, as far as I’m concerned, luck is a non-factor.
Intangibles
Intangibles, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter. I was speaking to another sportswriter recently and when I said that the Raptors have intangibles on lock, he made the point that intangibles play a larger role in basketball than in any other sport.
Kyle Lowry is the perfect example of intangibles at work. He never comes up in the conversations of the league’s best point guards because for fans who follow other teams, all they can see is numbers. But as Raptors’ fans, we know that what he brings to the team goes way beyond points and assists. And it’s difficult to explain since intangibles, by their very nature, tend to defy description.
The best example I can think of with Lowry is the very first game of the playoffs against the Orlando Magic. People have said to me, Kyle Lowry didn’t score any points in Game 1 of the playoffs.”
My reply?
“And yet, he still had the second-best plus/minus of anyone who took the floor that night AND got rave reviews from the opposing coach. That doesn’t just happen and you’re missing a huge part of the picture.”
Intangibles.
Kawhi Leonard is another example of the power of intangibles. Now, don’t get me wrong, The Claw made many many very tangible contributions to the Toronto Raptors. But to me, as a long-time fan, the unflappable poise and chill he brought to the squad were even more important than the stats.
The Raptors had been known as a team that always flamed out in the playoffs and even as a fan, I can’t disagree with that characterization. But starting in the regular season, there was something different about the way the Raptors played, about their approach to winning.
In previous seasons, even when the Raptors were playing with a lead, there was the feeling of a speeding, barely controlled vehicle with the wheels about to fall off. And heaven forbid the opposing team makes a run. I can remember asking no in particular on multiple occasions, “Who are these guys!?”
But last season was different. The Raptors were a team that just went about their business every game, every quarter, every possession. It honestly took until halfway through the season to get used to it. I always had an uneasy feeling that the other shoe was about to drop. It had to.
But it didn’t. It continued throughout the season all the way to the finals. Kawhi Leonard joined a group of pretty good basketball players and taught them how to behave like champions. It’s a lesson that will stay with every single member of that team for the rest of their careers.
These positive intangibles aren’t an accident. It starts right at the top with the way Masai Ujiri makes personnel decisions. Every single member of the Toronto Raptors is a high character person, a hard worker, a person with strong family values. And there isn’t a single ego in the bunch.
Not one single time in a post-game interview did a Raptors player take personal credit for a good performance. Even the well-worn concept that you win as a team and lose as a team wasn’t the mentality that the individuals that made up the roster embraced. They won as a team but lost as individuals. The only time you saw one of them pointing at themselves is when they had a poor performance.
That kind of mentality can’t be measured, it can’t be quantified and yet, it’s everything.