The Toronto Raptors are gone, but they won’t be forgotten by LeBron James. As James and the Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated the Raptors from the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 6 on Friday night, the game’s biggest star used his postgame interview with ESPN’s Doris Burke as a chance to pay respect to Toronto’s home crowd.
LeBron James honors ‘unbelievable’ Raptors fans in postgame interview
LeBron James is going to the NBA Finals for the sixth straight year, but he couldn’t leave Toronto without saying a few nice words about Raptors fans.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Even as the Raptors were down double-digits throughout the end of the fourth quarter, Toronto fans chanted “Let’s go Raptors” for the final three minutes of game time. It was a tremendous show of respect by the home crowd for what was the greatest season in franchise history. Even James noticed, saying, “I’ve never been part of something like this,” out of respect to Toronto fans during his exit interview:
“Much respect to these fans and this country,” James said. “This is unbelievable.”
The Raptors’ 56 wins this season were the most in franchise history, and this was the first time the team had ever reached the conference finals. The Raptors have some big decisions to make this summer with DeMar DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo headed for free agency, but this was an inspiring season from start to finish, led by the brilliant play of point guard Kyle Lowry. Raptors fans can hold their heads high.
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