Experience is king
As mentioned earlier, the Raptors’ run to the title was the cultivation of a six-year run as one of the NBA’s top teams. It’s not like they came from out of nowhere this year and made a shocking run to the Finals and knock off the powerhouse Warriors.
This is a team that experienced heartbreaks galore throughout those six years and throughout their history. From Vince Carter missing the final shot to send the Raptors to the ECF in 2001, to Kyle Lowry getting his shot blocked by Paul Pierce at the buzzer, to all the years of LeBron James toying with the city of Toronto, this franchise and their fanbase had been accustomed to nothing but pain and misery for many years.
Do you know who else experienced this same heartbreak for decades before finally reaching the mountaintop? The St. Louis Blues, who just recently ended their 52-year drought with a win over the Boston Bruins. And just last year, the Washington Capitals accomplished the same feat while also putting end to all the jokes that have come at their expense.
Very rarely do teams know what it takes to win it all on their first try; sports are simply too difficult and competitive for that to become the case. To learn how to win, a team needs to experience heartbreak and digest tough losses on the big stage.
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Experience in these moments is critical because eventually the lessons learned will be put to good use and a team can go on a run that fans will never forget.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are only entering their fourth year with this new nucleus intact and have experienced a few lessons in that span. They took a President Trophy winners as far as they could while playing in five overtimes in year 1.
The following two years saw them facing against the Bruins twice and going all the way to Game 7 before losing their season in heartbreaking fashion.
This past season alone saw the team in uncharted territory as they had a 3-2 advantage for the first time and was forced to learn what not to do with a chance to close out an opponent.
The Leafs have been through quite a bit but it’s ultimately not enough. This is a team that still has a lot to learn and needs more experience in order to go deeper into spring. And that’s ok, it takes time before it all comes together.