“If we don’t win this, we gonna have to live with this for the rest of our life” – Fred VanVleet reveals Raptors got extra motivation to win after Kevin Durant went down in 2019 Finals

Three-time NBA champion Draymond Green invited Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Fred VanVleet to “The Draymond Green Show,” discussing highlights from his career. Green and Fred VanVleet faced off in the 2019 NBA Finals, which the Raptors won – and that wasn’t left out of the discussion.

The Raptors finally made their way to the NBA Finals after beating the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. Their opponent for the ultimate test was the reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors. Although the Raptors had Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard as their superstars, a saving grace for them was Kevin Durant’s absence – they had one less worry.

The Raptors had a 3-1 lead going into Game 5 – in which Durant made a brief return before rupturing his Achilles tendon. Green asked VanVleet what was going through the Raptors’ minds in regards to Durant. VanVleet quickly responded:

“I just remember being in the locker room before Game 5, and there was like a little buzz, you know what I mean? Was he coming back? There were whispers that he’s going to play. I felt like he was going to play – if he was close enough to play, we knew he was going to try it out.

“I just remember, like, the conversation being like – ‘Alright, he coming back, we’re gonna go at him. We gonna see what he got.’ And he came out and hit them first four shots – and I remember being like, ‘DAMN!! Oh, my God, this dude is special.’”

Kevin Durant’s injury gave Fred VanVleet and the Raptors extra motivation

During the 2019 playoffs, Kevin Durant was on fire. In the conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant averaged 33.2 points, 5 rebounds and 4.4 assists before missing Game 6 with a calf strain. He then missed the entire Portland series before making a return in Game 5 of the NBA Finals as the Warriors trailed the Toronto Raptors.

Durant played just 12 minutes but almost instantly started playing like he had no injury trouble. In the first quarter, he shot perfectly from beyond the arc – making all three attempts. But in the second quarter he was forced to leave, picking up an injury to his Achilles. Fred VanVleet felt sad about the incident – as a basketball fan – but from the standpoint of an opponent, called it a gift, saying:

“We can’t get no better gift than this. If we don’t win this, we gotta live with it for the rest of our lives. I think that kinda gave us a little extra motivation to get it done.”

The Golden State Warriors managed to win Game 5 by one point, but Game 6 was a different story despite Klay Thompson’s heroics. The Warriors suffered another setback as Thompson left the game in the fourth quarter after tearing the ACL in his left knee. VanVleet had his best game of the series in Game 6, scoring 22 points off the bench as the Raptors won 114-110.

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With the win, the Raptors clinched their first NBA championship, while Kawhi Leonard earned himself a reputation for standing between three-peats. The speculation around the Raptors’ chances improving only because of Durant’s absence will likely continue forever. But to the Raptors’ credit, they earned the championship by playing exceptional basketball.