The thing about the Raptors is...

About one week ago, the Toronto Raptors held their big championship parade. Thousands of fans gathered in downtown Toronto to celebrate the team’s first title in their 24-year history.

It was a sight to behold, as the Raptors have a roster we can respect. Led by Kawhi Leonard, they have a group of veterans that have taken their fair share of playoff losses. Serge Ibaka never got it done with KD and Russ in Oklahoma City. Marc Gasol was a key member of the Grit N’ Grind era Grizzlies teams. Kyle Lowry has suffered some humiliating defeats in recent years as an all-star in Toronto. It’s nice to see those guys get what they’ve been striving for, for so long.

Now that we’re more than a week removed from the conclusion of the Finals, I can finally say that this just doesn’t feel right. I’m no Warriors fan, but I still feel like they were the best team in the league. That is what the playoffs are supposed to tell us: that the “best team” in the league will rise above the others and become champions. This wasn’t that, it turned out to be that the best collection of talent was ravaged by major injuries. KD only played twelve minutes in the six-game series and Klay Thompson tore his left ACL in the decisive game.

Klay Thompson’s torn ACL along with Kevin Durant’s ruptured achilles had a huge impact on the outcome of the 2019 NBA Finals.

The Raptors won, but I can’t get with the media’s tendency to ignore major injuries as if they don’t have an impact. Even with two of basketball’s most devastating injuries, it still took six games to eliminate Golden State. I’m still happy for the Raptors to be crowned champions, but we know who the best team of the 2018-19 NBA season was.