When the Toronto Raptors prepared for the 2019 NBA Playoffs, their intentions were pure. They wanted a healthy roster, and their load management tactic for Kawhi Leonard appeared to pay off.
But then news of OG Anunoby undergoing an emergency appendectomy put a hole into their plans for a healthy team. The expectations for Anunoby to play began to dwindle, and he ended up missing the entire Raptors postseason run.
While the Raptors still won the NBA title, Anunoby felt the disappointment, too. He watched the first two games of the Raptors' playoff run against the Orlando Magic from his hospital bed, and seeing them lose Game 1 was rough:
He even admitted that he lost about 15 pounds during the playoffs last season. His intentions were to come back for Game 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals, but those plans never materialized:
Despite missing the historic NBA Finals run with his teammates, Anunoby is in good spirits about his Raptors this season. He even believes that despite Leonard electing to move on to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Raptors will still repeat:
Unsurprisingly, however, small forward OG Anunoby doesn’t care what people are saying about the team. In fact, he thinks they are capable of running it back this year.
“I think we’re going to repeat [as NBA champions],” the 22-year-old said on Saturday, according to NBA Canada. “We have a really good team, we believe in ourselves, and that’s all that matters.”
Hopefully, Anunoby remains in good health and can fulfill his guarantee.