The Orlando Magic aren’t all that good right now, which lessens the impact of this rematch from the first round of the playoffs last season. There wasn’t any “bad blood” that I could tell. If there was a rivalrous atmosphere sizzling in the arena, it wasn’t apparent from the television broadcast. From all outside appearances, this was just a normal game between normal teams, and the better team won, and that’s all there is to it.
I bring up the playoffs because Fred VanVleet was a notable scapegoat in the second round against the Sixers. In the first round, he played as well as you’d want or expect from a backup point guard, but he played like such doo doo in the Sixers series that there was a subset of Raptors fans who were done with him. I don’t blame them, either. I quickly turn on players who perform poorly over a stretch of games, especially if it’s an important stretch of games. That’s why I turned on Eric Bledsoe. So I get it.
Then, VanVleet was a huge part of the Raptors’ success in the Finals, and if you look closely at the championship ring, you’ll actually a miniature version of his face made out of tiny little rubies. And, if you spend time examining it, you’ll see that Kawhi’s face is nowhere to be found. That’s because Kawhi is a traitor and a glory-chaser while VanVleet is loyal, hard-working, and has never once needed his load managed. He can manage his own load, thank you very much. VanVleet, in my mind, is a real Raptor. Kawhi was a fake Raptor. There’s a difference and it’s more than just about their respective loads (and the management thereof).