Utah Jazz: Raptors title is incredible, but makes absence of one in SLC sting more

The Toronto Raptors made history by winning their first ever NBA Championship, something the Utah Jazz have been unable to do despite a longer tenure in the league.

History was made on Thursday night as the Toronto Raptors won the franchise’s first ever NBA Championship by defeating the Golden State Warriors 114-110. The injury bug caught up to the defending champs in a big, bad way as Kevin Durant was already out with a ruptured Achilles and Klay Thompson would ultimately leave the game with a torn ACL, giving the Raptors a prime shot at the championship, albeit in an unfortunate away.

But, sadly, injuries are a part of the game and in no way can they eliminate the accomplishment that the Raptors just reached. They’ll forever be etched in the halls of history as the 2019 NBA Champions.

While the injuries that the Warriors players suffered may have changed some opinions midway through the series, I have a feeling that most Utah Jazz fans were pulling for the Raptors and ultimately were happy to see them win. Part of this is due to the fact that for the Jazz and other Western Conference teams, the Warriors’ reign had become tiresome.

They were a team that no one in the West was able to get past for five consecutive years and that combined with their strong personalities and what many would call an overly stacked roster led to many fans rooting for their downfall. Not only that, but considering Toronto’s status as an underdog (prior to the injuries anyway) in the series and overall as a typically overlooked NBA franchise, they’re a squad the Utah faithful could relate to quite heavily thus they were easy to get behind.

As such, witnessing a team win its first ever championship, particularly one that did so without a single lottery pick, proving that internal development and crafty transactions can work out, was exhilarating to behold. The Raptors put together an incredible blueprint that the Jazz and other small market NBA teams ought to aim to follow.

However, as great as it was to see Toronto get to hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy for the first time in their history, it also may have stung a little bit for Jazz fans, considering that despite how close their team has come, it has never reached those great heights.

The Jazz went to the NBA Finals in both 1997 and 1998, but were halted in their advance by one of the greatest to ever play the game in Michael Jordan. That’s the furthest they’ve ever been in the franchise’s 45-year history, including the New Orleans years.

Furthermore, the Jazz have been in Utah for 40 years, which is longer than the Toronto Raptors have even been in existence. Their franchise dates back only to the 1995-96 season, meaning that in 24 years they’ve been able to accomplish the greatest of all NBA feats, something the Jazz haven’t been able to do in almost twice as long.

And that fact is in many ways a painful one. Though the Jazz have come so close and have been a steady playoff team throughout their history, they’ve never been fortunate enough to make it all the way.

Some of that has had to do with market size. Some has had to do with a struggle to attract free agents. Some of it has had to do with simply running into a generational talent in Michael Jordan. But also, to some degree it’s had to do with an inability (a hesitancy perhaps?) to pull off a monumental transaction like the one the Raptors were able to do to bring superstar Kawhi Leonard into their mix.

Until the Jazz are able to secure the additional talent necessary, as Toronto did with Kawhi, they’ll likely remain as Toronto did for so many seasons – a solid playoff group, but unable to make it to the very top.

And until that moment, while it’s easy to feel proud for what the Raptors have accomplished, Utah Jazz fans will probably also feel a little bit dismayed that they have yet to experience what Toronto managed to do in 24 years’ time, including a monumental jump in just one season.

That said, Utah’s current core is definitely confident in their ability to be able to ascend to those heights sooner rather than later as evidenced by a tweet from Rudy Gobert following the Raptors’ championship victory–

Let’s hope that Rudy’s words prove prophetic and that the Utah Jazz won’t be far behind Toronto’s epic rise to the top of the NBA ladder. With the Warriors suddenly dealing with major injury concerns and free agency uncertainty, there may not be a better time than now for the Jazz to strike and capitalize on the opportunity before them.

• Published on 06/14/2019 at 6:00 AM MDT
• Last updated on 06/14/2019 at 6:00 AM MDT