"I love it": Former NBA players support viral rant from Raptors coach Rajakovic

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic certainly raised his stock in NBA circles over the last 24 hours or so.

In a 132-131 loss to the Lakers at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, Rajakovic made headlines worldwide for his rant calling out the free throw discrepancy in the game. Toronto took just 13 free throws on the evening compared to 36 for the Lakers, including a 23-2 mark in favour of the hosts in the fourth quarter.

“It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely BS,” Rajakovic said postgame. “This is a shame — shame for the referees, shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.”

Former NBA players Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams, appearing on FanDuelTV’s Run It Back program, both backed up the Toronto coach.

“He’s got a right to be pissed,” Parsons, who played in the NBA for four teams from 2011-20, said. “Both teams are playing physical. I love it. As a new young coach that most people don’t know his name… I love it as a player.”

"[Darko Rajaković's] got a right to be pissed…If I'm [Immanuel] Quickley, if I'm RJ Barrett, and I'm new to this city, and this guy one of the first games is just going to bat for us like this, I love it as a player."@ChandlerParsons reacts to Darko Rajaković heated presser.… pic.twitter.com/BIEVGpSTm0

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 10, 2024

Meanwhile, Williams, who played for the Raptors in 2014-15 and for six NBA teams across a 17-year NBA career, also backed up Parsons’ thoughts.

“He’s right. It’s hard to win a basketball game when you allow a team to shoot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter alone,” Williams said. “As a fan, you go to the game, the game’s stopping every 10-15 seconds.”

"If you're RJ Barrett, and your coach is fired up like this, it makes it easy to want to play for a guy like that."@TeamLou23 reacts to the Darko Rajaković presser after the Raptors vs. Lakers game.

📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/khmN20znqE

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 10, 2024

While a fine is likely coming for Rajakovic for his comments, it seems like he’s at least picked up some clout among the league’s retired group. And in a league that’s very much about managing relationships, you never know when the right impression might help you in the long run.

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