2019 NBA Finals

Overview

The 2019 NBA Finals is the championship series of the 2018-2019 NBA season, which took place between the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. They took place between May 30th and June 13th, 2019, and were won by the Raptors in six games, giving the franchise its first NBA championship.

Background

The Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, entered the finals as the defending champs, having beaten competition such as the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers to secure their spot in the finals. However, they entered the finals without one of their star players, Kevin Durant, as he had suffered a strained calf during the team's series against the Rockets. From the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors, led by Kawhi Leonard, entered the finals healthy after beating the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks. This marks the first NBA Finals the Raptors have played and the first time a Canadian team has entered any of the four major sporting events since the 1993 World Series.

Developments

The teams traded the first two games in Toronto, and Toronto won the next two in Oakland, giving the Raptors a 3-1 win heading into Game 5. With his team facing elimination, Kevin Durant attempted to play but ended up tearing his achilles tendon in the second quarter, requiring surgery and possibly leading to him missing the 2019-2020 season.^[1] The Warriors went on to win the game, forcing a Game 6 in Golden State. During that game, Warriors star player Klay Thompson was having a terrific game before he too went down with a serious injury, a torn ACL, and the Warriors lost the game and the series. Kawhi Leonard was named the Finals MVP, the second time he won the honor in his career.^[2]

Drake

Throughout the series, rapper Drake, a Toronto native and the Raptors' global ambassador, was a visible presence on the sideline cheering for the Raptors. During Game 1, he antagonized Steph Curry by wearing the jersey of Curry's father, who played three seasons with the Toronto Raptors, and picking a piece of lint out of Curry's hair and selling it on Ebay.

According to Drake, he plucked lint out of Curry's hair, and after the game, he posted to his Instagram saying he was selling the lint on Ebay under the name DraymondShouldntWear23, referring to the number of Warriors player Draymond Green wearing the same number as Michael Jordan (shown below). Bids were reported to reach over $86,000.

In Game 5, when Kevin Durant went down with injury, Drake gave a melodramatic reaction which some saw as disingenuous considering how antagonistic Drake had been to Durant and the Warriors throughout the series.

Plant Guy

Plant Guy refers to a video of a fan of the NBAs Toronto Raptors celebrating his team's championship by carrying a plant and saying he wanted to give the plant to Raptors star player Kawhi Leonard as a gift. During the celebration in Toronto, Globalnews.ca posted a video in which they interviewed a celebrating fan carrying a plant. Journalist Mark Carcasole caught up with the fan, dubbing him "plant guy," and interviewed him. The man said the plant was a "housewarming gift" for Kawhi Leonard and that he was hoping to give it to him. Leonard is an unrestricted free agent in the coming offseason, and many Raptors fans hope he will stay in the city. At one point he asks Carcasole "have you seen him?" and Carcasole replied that Leonard was likely celebrating in Oakland, California, where the game took place. After the interview concludes, "Plant Guy" chants "We the forest!", a take on the Raptors' fan-slogan, "We the North!"

Search Interest

External References