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Not a lot of experts believe that Marc Gasol and the Toronto Raptors will successfully defend their title this 2020. After all, they don't have a superstar-caliber player like the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
However, Gasol reminded everyone that basketball is a team sport, and it's group effort and chemistry that wins titles.
The Raptors vet acknowledged that the NBA is a star-driven league, with the media focusing on individual players rather than teams. Nonetheless, he knows the sport itself is not about the individuals
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“This is not tennis,” the Raptors big man said, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN. “We’re not talking about Rafa Nadal or [Novak] Djokovic or Roger Federer or [Milos] Raonic, for you [Canadians]. We’re talking about basketball. It’s a team sport. I know we as fans of the game and media we do a tremendous job of trying to make this about players, about single players.”
“But this is about a team, and always will be about a team. It’s how well you work as a team. It’s how well your talents complement the best players or the star player’s talents, and every team meets together with the coaching staff and the fans and so forth. It’s a team effort. It always will be. Doesn’t matter how much we try to singularize the game.”
It's difficult to counter Gasol's arguments. While several basketball analysts have written off the Raptors, they have more than proven that they can win through a collective effort even without a superstar.
The Raptors finished second in the Eastern Conference standings, ahead of teams like the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers. They will be facing the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the postseason, though it is worth noting that the New York-based team will also have no stars when they take on the defending champs.
