Last week, the Toronto Raptors won their first NBA title, defeating the Golden State Warriors in the finals. But who do Toronto FC players compare to among their NBA compatriots?
On June 13, 2019, the Toronto Raptors shocked the sporting world and won their first NBA championship.
In honour of this momentous occasion, here is every prominent Toronto FC player if they were a Toronto Raptor. And before you say this article is pointless…well it kinda is but hey Toronto is back on top!
Here are my suggestions:
Alejandro Pozuelo – Kawhi Leonard
For starters, both Alejandro Pozuelo and Kawhi Leonard instantly became the best player on their respective teams the moment they signed. The Raptors were looking for an upgrade from a plateauing DeMar DeRozan and Toronto FC was looking to bounce back from losing its best player in club history.
Both had immediate impacts with their new teams as well. Leonard went for 24 points and 12 rebounds in his Raptors debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not to be outdone, Pozuelo scored twice, while also tallying an assist in his first match with Toronto against New York City FC.
The similarities don’t even stop there. Both superstars left their former teams in, let’s just say, controversial fashion. Leonard requested a split from what was seemingly a marriage made in heaven between him and equally stoic coach Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs over Leonard’s perceived mishandling of a calf injury. Pozuelo took it one step further on his way out the door from Belgian club K.R.C. Genk, skipping the last game of the season and even threatening to bring a lawsuit against the club.
Both Spurs and Genk fans were, as you might expect, not pleased with these departures. Spurs fans voiced their displeasure when the Raptors rolled into town earlier this season and Genk supporters created a tifo of Pozuelo getting run over by a train. Both are tough to read, and certainly don’t rank up there with Taylor Swift in terms of handling break-ups, but boy are they both fun to watch.