Toronto Raptors

Published on: April 22, 2026

Brian Goldfinger and his LOVE/HATE of the Toronto Raptors

I’ve been a Toronto Raptors fan since Day #1.

2019 was a magical championship season. But outside of the 2019 season, the Toronto Raptors have been a hot mess.

Did you know that the Toronto Raptors have competed in 23 playoff rounds in their 30 year history. In those 23 playoff rounds, they have lost Game #1 an astounding 18 times!?!?!? They have lost 72% of their Game #1 playoff games in the course of their history! They’ve only been up 1-0 in the playoffs just 5 times in franchise history! 2 of those 5 Game #1 wins came during their 2019 Championship Season! They’ve had roster turnovers, coaching turnovers, staff turnovers. It doesn’t matter. The just lose 72% of their Game #1 playoff matchups which is insane to grasp. Even in 2019, that Championship Season, they lost Game #1 of the playoffs to the Magic; they lost Game #1 Eastern Conference Finals to the Bucks. Is this a Game #1 Playoff Curse, or is it a sign of a franchise which is either ill equipped, under prepared, or just isn’t serious about winning. Different iterations of the team, yet the same results ensue.

Despite their 2019 title, the Raptors hold a cumulative woeful playoff record of 57–67 (.460). They have been eliminated in the first round in 7 of their 14 total playoff appearances! That number of first round playoff exists might go up yet again in a few days.

The Toronto Raptors have historically struggled to maintain a winning standard, as evidenced by an all-time regular season winning percentage of .474 (1,172–1,302) as of the 2025–26 season. Their playoff winning percentage is just .456, which marks them as a loser. This record places them in the bottom third of the league historically, ranking 21st out of 30 teams in all-time win-loss percentage. Ouch.

If you’ve watched the Raptors through their history, you’ve seen them lose more than they win. If they’ve made the playoffs, chances are that they lose Game #1, and then lose in the opening round of the playoffs (this has happened 50% of the time).

Compare that to the Miami Heat which has an all time winning percentage of .525 and a .545 winning percentage in the playoffs. The Boston Celtics have an all time playoff winning percentage of .574. The San Antonio Spurs have an all time playoff winning percentage of .552. All of these franchises post marks which completely put to shame the Toronto Raptors.

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Published on: April 7, 2026

My case on why Toronto Raptors Management should not manage an Insurance Company or a Personal Injury Law Firm

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

I love it when I can combine by two favourite topics: the Toronto Raptors and Personal Injury Law into the same blog entry. I’ve been a lifelong Toronto Raptors Fan. I’ve been there since Game #1. I’ve been a fan of the NBA even before the Toronto Raptors came to town.

This year has been really difficult, particularly in the 2nd half of the season, to watch the Toronto Raptors play basketball. They are poorly managed, poorly coached, with pieces which are overpaid which and which don’t fit properly on a basketball court. The product is not entertaining, and the future of the team isn’t looking very bright when you consider the long term investments they’ve made into certain key players.

Running an insurance company, or a personal injury law firm requires someone at the top to make shrewd business and management decisions. The same can be said for running the Toronto Raptors.

The performance of the employees at an insurance company, or at a personal injury law firm is largely outside of management’s hands. Either those employees perform to a high standard which has been set by management, or they don’t. Management will set up targets, procedures, protocols and quality control inspections; but it’s not their job to do the work which the employees are being paid to do. Good management will put their employees in positions to succeed, with the tools they need to succeed. Bad management will do the opposite.

The same can be said of management of the Toronto Raptors. It’s not Bobby Webster’s job (current general manager of the Toronto Raptors) to make jump shots or play defence. Rather, it’s his job to build a roster, coaching staff, and operations team; and then for targets, goals and standards to be set which are either met/followed; or not.

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Published on: November 6, 2025

How the Toronto Blue Jays Broke My Heart

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

What makes the Toronto Blue Jays unique as a Major League Baseball team, is that they are the only Major League Baseball Team which represents and draws fans from an entire nation. The Toronto Raptors have the same standing in the National Basketball Association. But, the Toronto Blue Jays seem to do a better job uniting a country. Perhaps this is because they have a longer history to draw from compared to the Toronto Raptors (1977 vs. 1995). Or perhaps it’s because the Toronto Blue Jays have had more success in their sport compared to the Toronto Raptors (2 championships and 1 finals appearance vs. 1 championship).

When the 2025 Major League Baseball season began, even the most optimistic Blue Jays fan did not expect to see the results we saw. The Toronto Blue Jays had finished the previous season dead last in their division. They had not signed their star player, Vladimir Guerrero to a contract; and Mr. Guerrero’s pending free agency; became a distraction whether the team and Mr. Guerrero liked it or not.

In 1985, the Toronto Blue Jays made their first real playoff run. In those days, there was no Wild Card playoff round. You needed to win your division in order to advance to the playoffs. The American League East has been categorized as the most difficult division in baseball for years. Having to compete with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, even in their most grim years, is still difficult. Baseball is a fabric of those cities and cultures. The same can be said for hockey in Toronto. But, the same cannot be said for baseball in Toronto either. You can try to call Toronto a baseball town; which it is. But, when push comes to shove, baseball still plays second fiddle to hockey.

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Published on: September 5, 2025

Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Sometimes, the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog writes about things other than personal injury law. This is one of those occasions.

Earlier this week, Pablo Torre launched a bombshell investigative report on his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out. It explores how the LA Clippers may have circumvented the NBA’s salary cap rules by paying their star player, former Toronto Raptor, Kawhi Leonard; through a no-show $28 million dollar endorsement contract.

It’s a must listen podcast for anyone who enjoys investigative journalism, business, basketball, and/or the Toronto Raptors. I, myself, love all of those things; so I listened to the podcast over, and over and over again.

Coincidentally, the podcast was released on Wednesday morning. That same morning I had to do all sorts of driving to meet with clients across Ontario; so I uploaded the podcast for my drive. It provided wonderful edutainment for my journey.

In listening to the podcast, I got really upset. You might be wondering why.

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Published on: July 15, 2025

What the Toronto Raptors Roster Construction and Personal Injury Cases Have in Common (or not)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

I can’t resist the opportunity to rant and to write about two of my favourite things. In no particular order:

The Toronto Raptors
Personal Injury Law in Ontario

First, let’s examine the Toronto Raptors.

Even someone who doesn’t follow sports will remember back in 2019, the Toronto Raptors won their first ever NBA title.

It was hard even for a non sports fan to ignore their championship run given that it was covered by national and international media. The Toronto Raptors Championship Parade remains a modern day benchmark for North American public sport celebrations; trailing Argentina’s World Cup parade in Buenos Aires which saw an unprecedented turnout. That one was hard to beat.

From 2020-2023, the Toront0 Raptors implemented a new vision to modern basketball. It was dubbed as “Vision 6’9“, referring to the height and length of the players. Basically, the Raptors were trying to design a roster of players built entirely of identical frames, statures and heights. Their roster was composed namely of players who were around 6’6 to 6’10 or so; with supporting lengthy wingspans. The idea what that these players could rotate seamlessly and play multiple positions of the court, and defend different players on the court without need for any help. You were basically cloning one specific body type, and putting all 5 of those players out of the Court and having them play at the same time. It was positionless basketball.

The term I hear a lot more around the NBA is the term “measurables“. Does the player have the requisite measurables (height and wing span), to play?

If a player has the “measurables“, they are instantly more valued. If the player lacks those “measurables“, they are less valued or cast off altogether. If you don’t tick the physical boxes, you won’t get looked at, or won’t play.

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Published on: December 28, 2023

A Personal Injury Lawyer’s Hopes for the Toronto Raptors in the New Year

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

We are soon turning the page on 2023, and heading into 2024.

Not very often does the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog depart from it’s core topics focused on Personal Injury Law in the Province of Ontario.

But, when we do, we like to discuss the our beloved Toronto Raptors basketball team. This is one of those occasions where we will discuss, in depth, what we hope to see from the Toronto Raptors in the new year.

Let’s put things into context with quick look back on the past 4 years to Toronto Raptors Basketball.

2019/2020: A season from heaven! A championship year. You can’t ask for anything more from a franchise. A dream come true.

2020/21: Defending the championship. They still had a championship glow, despite Kawhi leaving. They had the best record in the NBA when the season was shut down due to COVID. Raptors end up losing in Game 7 to the Celtics in the playoffs in the Bubble. Solid and entertaining season. A season to be proud of and showed the world that they weren’t just all about Kawhi. They were a real team, with a real identity, along with a championship pedigree.

2021/22: Kyle leaves in a sign and trade. Let’s see what a Kyle-less Raptor team looks like. It’s obvious they are putting all of their marbles in the wing position; without a true centre or backup PG. Every player seems to be a 6″9 wing player. That means while every player can hypothetically play every position on the floor, it also means that they can play no position on the floor effectively. There are just 2 competent guards on the team, no reputable back up point guard, no centre, and nobody on the roster can shoot with any real consistency. That means that the floor spacing is poor. Everyone is also defending up, or defending down, meaning everyone is defending out of position. It’s obvious from the start to the end of this season that the roster construction is weird. But, let’s see if this vision 6’9 thing works out, because the front office has a proven track record of success and has earned it.

2022/23 We are going to do the exact same thing as above, but only this time, we’ve added a true centre in Jacob Poeltl. Same thing. Same result. Poor guard play. Poor shooting. Sometimes I just want to get out there and jack up some 3’s for this team.

2023/24 We are going to do the exact same thing as above, but only this time, we have a new coach and a new point guard who has traditionally be a career backup. Same result. Poor guard play. Poor shooting. Sometimes I just ant to get out there and jack up some 3’s for this team.

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