Raptors' Thaddeus Young reacts to Darko Rajakovic destroying refs after Lakers loss

The Raptors clearly appreciated Darko Rajakovic's fiery rant at the officials after their crushing loss to the Lakers.

The Toronto Raptors feel like they got the short end of the stick on Tuesday night when the referees granted the Los Angeles Lakers plenty of opportunities at the charity stripe late in their 132-131 loss. Head coach Darko Rajakovic, in particular, was not pleased. He went berserk in his postgame presser, calling out the referees for what he perceived to be preferential treatment in the Lakers' favor, which would surely net him a hefty fine in the coming days.

Nevertheless, this fiery rant from Rajakovic is exactly why the Raptors, even though they're losing ground in the Eastern Conference standings, are still playing so hard and giving it their all on a nightly basis. Veteran big man Thaddeus Young, who made his first start of the season in Jakob Poeltl's absence, explained Rajakovic's impact on the team in the best manner possible.

“It just says that he's all for us as a family, as a team. We're always going to stick together. We're always going to be behind one another as a family, as a team. We're always going to stick together, and he's always been behind us since day one coming in here. We love Darko to death. We think the world of Coach, and we definitely appreciate him going to bat for us,” Young said after the Raptors' loss, via ESPN.

This is one of the best things a coach can instill in a team — togetherness. Talent may be what puts teams over the top in the league, but team chemistry should not go overlooked amid a team's transition from a middling team to a contender. Darko Rajakovic, in his first season as Raptors head coach, is already establishing himself as someone his team can go to bat for, as he shows he's willing to do the same for them.

What a stark contrast this is for the Raptors, a team that had a strong disconnect between its players, its former head coach Nick Nurse, and the front office to end last season. Even though the manner in which Thaddeus Young and company lost to the Lakers is frustrating, the signs are there that there may be a turnaround coming for Toronto sooner than one would think.