A long-time Raptors fan says he spent nearly 40 hours creating a Lego version of Kawhi Leonard’s famous buzzer-beater shot that got the Raptors into the Eastern Conference Finals.
In Game 7 of the Raptors series against the Philadelphia 76ers series on May 12, Leonard’s buzzer-beater shot — which bounced on the rim four times before going in — left fans stunned, gave the Raptors a 92-90 victory over the 76ers and put an end to the series.
The shot made Raptors history and allowed the team to move one step further in the NBA Playoffs and eventually to the NBA Finals, which they captured for the first time ever earlier this month.
Stop-motion animator Jared Jacobs was one of the millions of people who saw the shot.
“It was something where I just knew, as soon as the moment happened I was like, ‘I’ve got to make that in Lego,’” Jacobs told Global News.
On Monday, he posted his stop-motion Lego re-creation of the shot on social media, where it has already garnered tens of thousands of views and likes.
“I knew this was one that I wanted to carve out time for, so whenever I had time I would film and it probably took like 40 hours to make it,” Jacobs said.
“I made an effort to do it because I grew up in Canada and I’ve always been a Raptors fan.”
Jacobs said the project included hundreds of pieces, with 195 movements occurring for each frame at the height of the project.
“It sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out, but I just love how it looks once it’s done,” he said.
Jacobs said during the playoffs, he was hired by the Golden State Warriors to do some stop-motion work for them and was even flown out to Oakland for a game, but has always remained a Raptors fan.
As a testament to the team’s historic playoffs run, he began making the incredibly accurate video after the Raptors were crowned NBA champions.
He said he hopes the video even assists in answering the biggest question on every Raptors fan’s mind right now: Will Kawhi Leonard re-sign with the team?
“If he really is the fun guy that he claims to be, this should be the deciding factor in whether or not he stays, that’s what I think,” Jacobs said.
“What fun guy doesn’t want a Lego video?”
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