Redeeming the Past
How Kawhi Leonard Erased 18 Years of Raptors Pain in One Shot
“2001 it didn’t fall for Vince. 2019 it fell for Kawhi.”
That was Kyle Lowry’s assessment of Kawhi Leonard’s game 7 buzzer beater against the Philadelphia 76ers. In one quick sentence, Lowry managed to succinctly explain what every long time Raptor felt immediately after Leonard’s shot bounced 4 times on the rim and dropped in. With a single flick of the wrist, Leonard managed to undo 18 years of baggage and long-help frustration and created the franchise most legendary moment.
Before the Raptors became a perennial eastern conference powerhouse, they spent a lot of time as a mediocre franchise. The team’s lone bright spot pre-Masai era was in 2001 when the Raptors advanced to the second round of the playoffs for their first time ever.
That team was led by another NBA superstar, Vince Carter. He had burst onto the scene in a lockout shortened 1998–99 season and taken the league by storm. His high-flying dunks had helped transform the Raptors from a marginal NBA team to one known across the league. With his leaping heroics, Carter put the Raptors on the map and started the process of legitimizing Toronto as a basketball city.
In the second round of the 2001 NBA playoffs, the Raptors matched up with the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers had captured the Eastern Conference title thanks in large part to their own franchise player, Allen Iverson. Philly coach Larry Brown had constructed a roster around Iverson that was built to minimize Iverson’s flaws and maximize his strengths. Iverson averaged 31.1 points per game and the team’s second leading scorer, Theo Ratliff, averaged 12.4. The memo was clear, Iverson scored the ball and everyone else worked to stop the other team from doing the same.
The table was set for an unforgettable series. Two superstars playing at the height of their abilities. Through six games, Carter and Iverson took turns throwing out massive uppercuts. Iverson dropped 54 in game two, willing his team to a victory. Carter responded in turn by dropping 50 in game 3. In game 5, Iverson pushed the Raptors to the brink of extinction with a 52-point performance. The series turned back to Toronto where, in front of a frenzied crowd, Carter responded with possibly the most important performance of his career: 39/5/5 with 4 steals, forcing a decisive game 7.
Before game 7 was to occur, there would have to be some drama first. On the morning of that game, May 20, 2001, the University of North Carolina was hosting its graduation. At first glance, this has nothing to do with either team but it became the biggest focal point of the biggest game in franchise history.
Carter had spent his NCAA career with the UNC Tarheels. Like many athletes, he had promised himself and his mother that he would one day complete his degree. By 2001, Carter had managed to finish his undergraduate and was entitled to all the rights that went with it… including participating in a graduation ceremony.
Because the game was the same day as the graduation, then-owner Larry Tanenbaum loaned his private jet so that Carter could attend the ceremony. Carter arrived in North Carolina early in the morning, walked out with the graduates and left early to fly back to Philadelphia to attend a pre-game meeting at noon. In total, Carter spent less than 6 hours away from his teammates and honestly, it had no bearing on what would eventually transpire but it became the biggest story going. The media vilified Carter for choosing to attend his graduation on the day of the biggest game of his career. Carter had the chance to make it a non-story by coming out with a superstar performance for game 7.
Unfortunately for Carter and Raptors fans, he just couldn’t get going. To be fair, so did Iverson who would finish with 21 points on 27 shots. Both sides mucked it up and the game quickly became a defensive affair. After scoring 31 points in the first quarter, Philadelphia would only score 19 a piece in the next three. The Raptors clawed their way back little by little and it soon became obvious this game would be decided in the final seconds.
With less than a minute left in the game, Dell Curry, father of Steph and Seth, made a three pointer created by a Carter assist to bring the Raptors within one, 88–87. This was followed by an Iverson missed which was rebounded by the 76ers who bled the shot clock down for Eric Snow to miss his attempt with 8 seconds on the clock. The defensive rebound was secured by Alvin Williams with 5.5 seconds to go. With exactly two seconds to go, the 76ers used their foul to give to force the Raptors into a final shot. Following a Raptors timeout, Carter got his chance to write his own story.
I was just about to turn 12 when this game happened. Carter was my basketball idol. I dreamt of dunking like him and one day putting on that Raptors uniform. He felt all-powerful to me. That miss was the first time I thought of him as a human. He got a good look, got off a nice shot but he just missed. Like I’ve done 1000s of times in my pick-up games or through high school and college. Any serious basketball player has missed more than they’ve made and in that moment, this was another miss for Carter. In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter.
But contextualized that miss mattered a whole lot. It was the end of the best Raptors season in franchise history. It was the start of the media villainizing Carter to the point that the fan base would eventually turn against him. The following season, the Raptors would lose in the first round of the playoffs and never return in Carter’s career.
For 18 years, that game has been the biggest what-if in franchise history. If the Raptors make that shot, they would have faced the Milwaukee Bucks for a more than fair shot at beating them and making the finals. It was the missed shot that became the biggest chip on any long-time fan’s shoulders.
“2001 it didn’t’ fall for Vince. 2019, it fell for Kawhi.”
All of that to say that it was hard to fight the feeling of a déjà vu in 2019. The Raptors once again matched up with the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard is the most recent Raptors superstar and Philadelphia has their own in Joel Embiid. Once again the series goes to 7 with unreal feats from both teams’ stars. The decisive game quickly became a defensive affair with both teams struggling from the field. Leonard wasn’t his efficient self but he kept attacking and by the 4th quarter, he seemed to find his rhythm.
With the chance to push the lead the three in the final seconds, Leonard missed the back end of a pair of free throws. Philly’s Jimmy Butler got the ball and quickly raced down for a layup (that I might add was dangerously close to become an And-1 situation) to tie the game at 90–90. 4 seconds left in the game, Raptors ball. Make a shot and you advance.
Everyone in the building knew the ball was going to Kawhi Leonard. Superstars work their entire careers to earn the right to take the final shot in games like these. Through 12 playoff games with the Raptors, Kawhi had more than earned that opportunity. He got the ball at the top of the arc. Drifted towards the right side of the court with 76ers guard Ben Simmons following his every step and Embiid coming over to help. Leonard looked at the basket and launched his shot at the buzzer, no time left on the clock. If ti goes in, Raptors win and move on. If it doesn’t, we play some overtime basketball and my heart explodes out of my chest.
It bounced. It bounced again. Oh my god it’s still bouncing. WHY IS IT STILL BOUNC… it drops in the net.
From there, it was pure ecstasy. No moment has ever felt more immediately cathartic than that ball dropping into the net and hearing the ACC (it will never be the Scotiabank Centre to me) explode in unified joy. Leonard’s usual calm demeanor was betrayed by the emotion of the moment as his teammates all mobbed him. It was absolute bedlam.
Sports are funny. They are games invented to help children get some exercise that have become billion-dollar enterprises. I don’t know any of these Raptors and yet I feel an emotional connection with all of them. It probably isn’t healthy to hold on to an 18-year-old missed field goal attempt but I absolutely did. And I wasn’t alone in doing so.
Leonard’s shot felt like an exorcism for an entire fan base. He just gave me the best basketball moment I’ve ever experienced, a moment I will recount for my daughter until she can talk about it like she lived through it herself even though she had been soundly sleeping for 4 hours up to that point.
Leonard’s shot gave me the experience of watching this with my high school buddies, most of whom played on our high school basketball team, all of whom are Raptors fans. These are my brothers through the battles we have entered in our youths. We got to lose our damn minds together like we were young again, cheering so wildly that I hurt my wrist in the process.
Leonard’s shot erased those feelings of Carter’s miss almost two decades ago.
Win or lose against the Bucks (we didn’t get our chance in 2001 but fate always has a way to even things out) in the Conference Finals, Raptors fans will always have this shot. Leonard could walk away this summer and got to Los Angeles, as has been rumored for more than a year now. It would all be worth it because when we are old and grey, my friends and I will reminisce about this shot and Carter’s shot will be the furthest thing from our memory.
