Former Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson strongly believes that the Toronto Raptors should get the respect that they deserve after winning the 2018-19 NBA title .
In the latest newsletter from Marc Stein of New York Post, Johnson gave his take on the talks about putting an asterisk on Toronto's championship run. Some fans are questioning the legitimacy of the championship because the Raptors won the title by defeating a depleted Golden State Warriors squad.
The Warriors played without Kevin Durant almost for the entire series before losing Klay Thompson to a knee injury in Game 5. While there are a lot of talks about what could have happened if the Warriors played with a complete lineup, Johnson believes that the Raptors' title will be “well-respected” by people who knows how hard it is to win.
“The Raptors’ championship is going to be well-respected by people who understand the journey,” Johnson said. “The joy of the moment, they’re going to remember it for the rest of their lives.”
Johnson added that winning a title is a monumental achievement regardless of how a team won the championship. The former San Antonio Spurs guard knows where he is coming from, as his first NBA title is also being questioned because they won the title during a lockout season — when teams only played 50 games in the regular season.
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