What goes into producing an iconic sports moment?
Something that hasn’t been done before? Yes.
A context that produces immense anticipation? Absolutely.
Paving the way for greatness to follow? No doubt about it.
All these facets are what make Kawhi Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beating shot against the Philadelphia 76ers one of Toronto’s defining sports moments.
The four bounces on the rim, felt like time had stopped. The Toronto Raptors, basketball fans tuning in across Canada, were waiting in agony to see how the ball destined their team’s fate.
Once the ball swooshed through the mesh, the weight of previous playoff failure had lifted. The Raptors were moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals and Leonard instantly became a Toronto sports hero.
Kawhi Leonard dropped 41 PTS and hit the GAME-WINNER as the @Raptors win Game 7 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#RapsRewind pic.twitter.com/jaOiHiIhLi— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) April 1, 2020
“It was great,” Leonard said post-game. “That’s something I’ve never experienced before, Game 7, game-winning shot. It was a blessing to be able to get to that point and make that shot and feel that moment. It’s something I can look back on in my career.”
***
While heartbreak and disappointment have defined the Toronto sports landscape for years, the city has seen its share of unforgettable moments. Toronto Blue Jays were involved with two major events; Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series and Jose Bautista’s epic bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS comes to mind.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, Nikolai Borschevsky’s overtime winner in Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings gave hockey fans hope in 1993.
But Leonard’s shot differs from these iconic moments. For starters, it was the first buzzer-beater in a Game 7 in NBA Playoffs history.
The NBA has existed since 1946. None had ended in a game-winning shot at the buzzer in Game 7 before Kawhi. In Carter’s case, his walk-off World Series-clinching home run was the second in major league history, the first being Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski in 1960.
For the Raptors, the franchise history that preceded “The Shot” provided context for the importance of this Game 7. 18 years earlier, the Raptors and Sixers battled in a playoff series in 2001. It went seven games, with Raptors star Vince Carter getting the ball with a shot to win it.
The buzzer-beater did not come to fruition.
***
Between the two games, the Raptors were mired in a litany of playoff struggles. From losing game ones to bowing out in the second round to the Cleveland Cavaliers the past two seasons, the Raptors were looking for the answer to their postseason woes.
Leonard was the constant source of production on both ends of the floor. He already got the Raptors back in the series in Game 4, with a clutch three-pointer over Sixers big man Joel Embiid late in the fourth quarter.
With Carter, while his walk-off homerun clinched back-to-back World Series championships, the Blue Jays already won a year prior. The Raptors were still working to achieve that championship pedestal.
Game 7 and “The Shot” provided evidence to suggest that the Raptors were indeed a championship contender. They played lock-down defense, led by point guard Kyle Lowry, who stole the ball off of Embiid’s pass late in the fourth quarter and assisted on Pascal Siakam’s slam dunk in transition.
“We just were doing it all,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “We were pressuring the ball, we were corralling the right guys for a split second with two, we were either rotating or hustling back to our own so just because we put two on the ball it didn’t mean something was automatically open. And then we rebounded it after we contested.
***
While Leonard still remained a focal point on both ends of the floor, the Raptors knew they needed other players to step up in the later rounds.
Kawhi putting up 41 points on 39 shots is not sustainable.
🚨 THE SHOT. THE BOUNCE. THE WIN. 🚨
Kawhi Leonard drops in the #TissotBuzzerBeater to lift the @Raptors to the Game 7 win! #ThisIsYourTime #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/bpRx7GXiKu
— NBA (@NBA) May 13, 2019
Thanks to “The Shot,” the Raptors team performance carried over in the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, where head coach Nick Nurse ran a seven-man rotation that prided itself in energetic defense and scoring depth.
To compare to Bautista’s bat flip, while it still remains a memorable Blue Jays moment, it isn’t a piece of a championship narrative. The Blue Jays fell to the Kansas City Royals in the next round’s American League Championship Series in six games.
The Raptors being able to exorcise their playoff demons would not have occurred without Leonard being the team’s all-around playmaker. His 243 points for the series against the Sixers were the third-most in an NBA playoff series and the most since Michael Jordan in 1993.
But fans will zero in on “The Shot” as that constant reminder of Leonard’s impact on the Raptors. Sports bring us together because of its potential to exemplify the impossible becoming possible.
Once the shot went in, Leonard let out a rare cry of emotion. A reality he hasn’t experienced for many years.
“I’m a guy that acts like I’ve been there before. So probably the last time you’ve seen me scream was when we won,” Leonard said, referring to San Antonio winning the 2014 NBA Finals.
“Whenever it’s like a moment where I haven’t really experienced, I’ll probably try to give some emotion, show some emotion, and let it just come out. Tonight, was one of those nights.”
***
Leonard’s shot will be replayed for years to come. Perhaps buzzer-beaters in Game 7 will come after this. Or other basketball stars creating remarkable moments for the sport.
Where the Raptors were before “The Shot,” and after the fact, heightens Leonard’s legacy as a basketball player.
He ascended into the annals of Toronto sports history that May night.
All thanks to four bounces and a soft touch of the rim.
**NOTE: Game 1 of the Raptors/Bucks Eastern Conference Finals Series reairs on Sportsnet at 8 pm EST Wednesday, April 1st**
