Kawhi Leonard’s franchise-altering shot deserves a deep rewind | 2019 Raptors vs. 76ers Game 7

For a dude who seemingly has the emotional range of a robot, Kawhi Leonard exploded with feelings of joy after draining a Game Seven buzzer-beater shot against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 Eastern Conference SemiFinals. That’s just how big this moment was. But to fully appreciate Kawhi malfunctioning, you have to understand everything that led up to the final bounces of that shot. How the Raptors fell short year after year to LeBron and the Cavs, forcing them to make a drastic trade to reach this point. You need to understand that the 76ers are only here in this position to stop the Raptors now because they were purposely awful for numerous years. Yes, the Raptors have one of the most loyal fan bases in the NBA, but they had to go through years of losing and misery to get there. And while Kawhi is the star of this Raptors team, getting him to suit for Toronto didn’t come easy. So to really understand this moment, we gotta rewind. Written, produced and edited by: Joe Ali