LeBron James has been nothing but trouble over the years for the Toronto Raptors.
The team's most recent loss led to the end of head coach Dwane Casey’s seven year tenure as Toronto’s bench boss. The 61-year-old was just named Coach of the Year by his peers but was still given the axe by general manager Masai Ujiri. Basketball fans began pointing fingers at LeBron James for Casey’s firing, as his strong play has prevented Casey from leading his team to an NBA Finals. When asked about the claim, LeBron brushed it off and credited his strong play to his teammates.
Since rejoining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, ‘The King’ has led the organization to three consecutive championships, defeating Toronto three times during playoff action in the process. After narrowly losing 4-2 in the 2016 Eastern Conference Final, Toronto has been swept by LeBron in back-to-back playoff appearances. This year’s exit came after a historically strong regular season for the Raptors in which they captured the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
The reasoning behind Casey’s firing obviously stretches beyond James. Despite his success on the sideline, the feeling is that the organization simply wants a coach who they feel can win some playoff games leading the way. Basketball fans can all agree that even though he couldn’t get past LeBron, the well-respected head coach likely won’t have difficulty finding a new gig.
