Toronto Raptors: 4 Things the Durant Injury Revealed About All of Us
By Go Paolo
The Fans: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
What the Raptors fans did in cheering when Durant got injured was vile and showed a complete lack of empathy. Forget about Durant as the NBA superstar and focus on Durant the person. An individual just like every single fan in that arena or in the city.
Sometimes that is forgotten in the heat of the moment. Even as contemptuous as the fans’ reactions were, it is understandable.
Raptors fans have long been one of the longest-suffering fanbases in the NBA. This is a city that had to endure seeing their team mocked for its repeated playoff failures and inability to land superstars.
Then this magical NBA season happened.
All of a sudden, Toronto isn’t Losersville anymore. The Raptors are a legitimate championship contender and Kawhi Leonard is the superstar the franchise has long desired in its 24-year existence.
Making the NBA Finals swept the city with an overwhelming abundance of passion that some just didn’t know how to react to it.
Raptors fans originally made the impression that they were amongst the best. There was nothing but praise coming from both the fans and media about the fans. There were zero initial arrests when the city celebrated when the team defeated Milwaukee.
And up until this night, there were no complaints.
But Durant’s return and subsequent injury exposed a dark side with the fanbase. The loud cheers and jeers from the arena upon seeing him clutch his leg were spine-tingling. Some fans in the baseline even smugly waved “goodbye” at him.
Sports bars across the city jumped up in celebration as if they had won the NBA championship.
Despicable.
Of course, this is a phenomenon exclusive to Raptors fans or Torontonians. Remember when the Warriors fans at Oracle cheered when Zaza Pachulia injured Kawhi Leonard?
Or what about Philly fans cheering almost every time an opposing player got injured? Jason Werth? Michael Irvin?
Texans fans were also in the spotlight for cheering for an injury towards their own player, NFL quarterback Matt Schaub.
This doesn’t excuse those actions, as every single one deserves criticism. It’s just a reflection of the unfortunate nature of a mob mentality.
It was a despicable action in the heat of the moment, and Raptors fans have stained their once sterling reputation. The cheering was reprehensible. But it’s not a result of a specific fanbase. Canadian or American, Raptors fan or not, each fanbase is capable of dehumanizing behavior like this.