The Raptors were a 60 win team the year before with Demar Derozan. They replaced him with Kawhi, they replaced Valanciunas with Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam became an all-star caliber player yet y’all are acting like Kawhi was playing with some bums. Kawhi only shot 40% against the Bucks and struggled mightily against a Warriors team that was a shell of itself without KD and an injured Klay. I mean Kawhi was outscored by three of his teammates in the closeout game of the finals. Kawhi had an amazing series against Philly but had two great games in the finals but his playoff run isn’t any more spectacular than Lebron’s in 2018 or even Steph and KD’s the last few seasons.
The DeRozan & Lowry era Raptors were a good squad but had no championship pedigree whatsoever and were a fraudulent 60 win team in a weaker Eastern Conference.
You have to rank Kawhi’s playoff run ahead of 2018 Bron’s off the simple fact that he was able to win it all, & history is usually favorable to the victor. Plus the 2019 playoffs showcased the greatest facets of Kawhi’s 2 way domination, in the first 2 rounds how dominant he was offensively. In the Milwaukee series although Kawhi started to hobble around, the whole series shifted when Kawhi was assigned to stay in front of Giannis. Even then he still shot above 44% from the field and averaged damn near 30ppg/10rebs/4ast.
It’s not to say he didn’t have a great supporting cast around because he did, but the clear consensus was that Kawhi was the ultimate difference maker for them getting outta the East. We all remember in Game 7 against Philly when the Raptors players all looked shook & scared to shoot
In the Finals he was able to allow his teammates to cook without his ego getting away of them winning, while still being able to take over games when needed.
Same energy bruh, I want these muhfukkas to have the exact same fukking energy when Kawhi is getting his head popped next postseason...
I mean really...
KD was getting ready to snatch the series from Toronto, and that's the thing. This is the best we ever saw Kawhi look, and he was great, but the best version if Kawhi we ever saw is LEVELS below the best version of KD and LeBron we've seen, by a landslide....
Proof is in KD walking on the floor for a quarter, you couldn't even tell Kawhi was in the game (oh, but he was). And pick a year for LeBron, Kawhi's 2019 playoff run is at best tied with Bron's 4th best playoff run---->for sure '19 Kawhi ain't on the level of Bron's three greatest playoff runs...
I love this newfound Kawhi stanning. I just want nikkas to keep the energy in the 2020 playoffs when the Lakers (or somebody else) repositioning this dude from his overrated perch...
Durant has never had this level of impact on a team winning a title until he joined a championship caliber team tho
There’s no version of Durant that is
levels above this current incarnation of Kawhi 2017 onwards. KD coming into a game for 11 minutes & getting off to a hot start doesn’t equate to Kawhi being way inferior. ‘Less we forget that in the 2017 WCF the superteam Warriors were getting
SMOKED by the Spurs with Kawhi leading the charge, until they ordered Zaza Pachulia to take him out.
I understand having KD above him, but levels my G?
every single year has had a team with a better record then y'all
Bron was the best player on the court that series. He averaged 28, 8, and 4 on 57% shooting and 52% from three. The next highest scorer on the team was Wade who averaged 15 ppg with a 43% field goal percentage. Bron averaged the most points in that series with ridiculous shooting numbers. It’s insane to expect him to play any better than that against an elite defense.
