The Toronto Raptors have a lot to celebrate, and so a fan with LEGO skills commemorated their 2019 NBA Finals victory in a special kind of way.
A Toronto Raptors fan made a LEGO recreation of Kawhi Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beater against the Philadelphia 76ers, and it’s quite beautiful.
Stop-motion animator Jared Jacobs built and taped a 20-second clip of the iconic moment, and it is astonishingly accurate if you create two windows on your computer and watch them side by side.
The Raptors made their pitch to Leonard on the court this season. It was a pretty solid one. Their medical staff treated him far differently than the San Antonio Spurs ever did.
That helped him recover fully and become the first player to win both NBA Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year twice since Hakeem Olajuwon.
To set up this Kawhi moment, it was a do-or-die situation in Game 7. Oh, and the ball hit the rim four times, but anyone who paid attention to how great Leonard was in 2014 knew that shot would go in. It bodes well when the ball bounces straight up into the air after coming off the iron.
That jumper ended the Philadelphia 76ers season and sealed up a 92-90 victory and trip to the Eastern Conference Finals for the Raptors.
There are also a lot of giant Kawhi murals being built around Toronto currently, but this LEGO video takes it a step further when it comes to inspiring art.
According to CTVNews.ca, Jacobs needed 40 hours and 100 pictures to make it.
“The crowd scene — where there’s a whole bunch of people moving — was almost 200 mini-figures that I was moving each frame,” he said. “Those crowd scenes just take so long.”
He lives in Boise now, but he was raised in Calgary and has always been a huge Raptors fan. He has other incredible videos too, like Damian Lillard’s buzzer-beater. Jacobs made this so quickly to be sure Kawhi saw it before free agency.
“I wanted to get this video out before he made the decision just in case he decides to go back to L.A.,” the animator said. “Hopefully making a Lego video for him can sway him.”
Leonard might consider re-signing with Toronto; however, he also appears to have an interest in some of the California teams as well. Personally, the option to have a free condo and a free meal for the rest of life sounds pretty good.
Basketball players are traveling constantly during the winter anyway, and so the climate consideration shouldn’t be that important for Leonard.
Why wouldn’t he just enjoy the status of a made man and sign a longer contract?
Also, why would anyone leave a situation where you own the Eastern Conference for the next five years? The only man standing between Leonard and doing that is Giannis Antetokounpmo, and he’s a hell of a player himself; however, Kawhi showed what kind of a baller he is this season.
We’ll see what Leonard does later this summer, but the love pouring out of Canada for this human is insane. It seems like that might be tough to leave.