Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from impressive 107-92 win over Lakers

3) Lebron James acknowledges Raptors’ championship credentials

The Lakers are one of the favourites to win the NBA championship, along with the Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers. Meanwhile, the Raptors keep drifting along under the radar, stockpiling wins and playing well without really being acknowledged.

The irony is that the reason the Raptors are not getting more respect, is due to no longer having Leonard. And yet, the team has been playing just as well without him and even have a better winning percentage compared to last season.

Regardless, James is at least one person who has been paying attention to what the Raptors are doing and has been extremely impressed. As reported by Yahoo Sport, James said;

"“That’s a great team – exceptionally well coached, [with] championship DNA, you can never take that away from a ball club. Even before that they’ve got playoff-tested guys. “They’re just a great team…they won a championship for a reason. It wasn’t just solely because of Kawhi, and obviously you’re seeing that.”"

Certainly, it must be refreshing for Raptors fans to hear one of the NBA’s all-time greats speak positively about their team. In addition, you get the feeling James is being genuine with his comments, rather than just paying lip service.

In this respect, it is interesting to see how times have changed for James, who continually dominated the Raptors during his second spell with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since joining the Lakers, he is 0-4 against Toronto’s team.