ESPN made a 16-minute highlight video of the NBA Finals.
What’s next for USA Basketball with Tokyo Olympics postponed? – Sports Illustrated
The next NBA season could need a break in the middle. As of now, neither the 2021 NBA season nor the Tokyo games have an official start date. Both situations will likely be fluid as the pandemic plays out. The Olympics could take place in the spring as opposed to the summer. Meanwhile, commissioner Adam Silver has said the league has broached the idea of changing its calendar depending on when or if this current season resumes (and when it’s safe to be playing again.) Hypothetically, an NBA season that begins this December could need to take a break in the spring if that’s when the Olympics take place AND if the league is still committed to sending its top talent. Players are generally pro-Olympics for a variety of reasons, and it would be a tough sell for some of them to miss out on Tokyo because of the pandemic fallout. Other sports leagues, like the NHL and WNBA, have taken breaks so their athletes can compete in the Olympics.
What could get complicated for the NBA is if the Tokyo games take place at the same time next summer. If the league calendar is pushed back and the playoffs are taking place in July/August, teams would probably be more hesitant to take a break in the schedule and send players to play in competitive games and risk injury. Of course, the roster could then be made up of eliminated players or some other contingency. But as of this moment, there’s no guarantee the 44 players in the Olympic pool will definitely be available to participate in Tokyo. The scheduling will bear watching.
How Serge Ibaka went from shy rookie to beloved Raptor and multimedia star – The Athletic
“One thing about Serge, and I’m going to tell you this: The motherfucker loves the camera. All right? The motherfucker loves the camera,” says Kendrick Perkins, who was Ibaka’s teammate for parts of five years in Oklahoma City. “At the end of the day, that’s right up his alley: the cooking show, the fashion, that’s him. With fashion, you can’t tell him nothing. This motherfucker used to spend hours in the mirror after he got out the shower.
“I’m talking about he had his whole kit laid out. He had to get his hair cut every three or four days. I was like, ‘Serge, do your thing.’ But Serge loved the damn camera.’”
Yet, the Ibaka that exists in the public consciousness today — outgoing, playful, engaging — is far from the perception that surrounded him earlier in his career in Oklahoma City, Orlando and even when he first arrived in Toronto.
Where once he came off as self-serious and brooding, Ibaka — who has always loved the spotlight — is now keen to share the stage, and his veteran savvy, with his teammates.
He has become the sage cleric and court jester, all in one.
Initially, Raptors rookie Terence Davis II didn’t care for his seat on the team’s charter. Davis’s seat had a table situated right in front of him. And while there are other, taller members of the team who require even more legroom, Davis found it uncomfortable nonetheless. So he went looking for a new place to sit.
He found one next to Ibaka.
“Serge, he welcomed me. That was pretty big,” says Davis. “Some vets probably wouldn’t just welcome a rookie sitting next to him.”
25 Seasons of Raptors: The rise and fall of Vince Carter | Toronto Sun
By the time Carter made his debut, the NBA had lost more than three months to a lockout and Michael Jordan had vanished for a second time, with Chicago’s dynasty in the rearview. It wasn’t just Toronto that needed a supernova, it was the league as a whole.
With jaw-dropping athleticism that hearkened back to Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Julius Erving, plus a smooth and still-improving jump shot, Carter was almost a must-see from the start. You never knew what high-flying exploits he would deliver during his rookie-of-the-year campaign. With distant cousin Tracy McGrady developing alongside him, Toronto suddenly became one of the most interesting teams and draws in the NBA.
Though the Raptors missed the playoffs again in 1998-99, they served notice they were an emerging force, with Carter leading the way.
By Year 2, Carter had refined his jumper and emerged as a superstar, averaging 25.7 points. He also put the Raptors on the map with an historic slam-dunk contest performance in Oakland. For three years in a row, Carter was the top all-star vote-getter.
The Raptors won 45 games and earned a date with the New York Knicks in the post-season. Though Carter struggled mightily in that series, he had delivered on his promise to get the team to the playoffs and built on it by being arguably the top performer on USA’s gold medal-winning team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
As this corner once wrote, Toronto suddenly had the most popular player in the world. In those early halcyon days, Carter seemingly could do no wrong and, for the first time, Raptors games were must-see events.
Toronto sportscasters are calling fans to cheer them up during COVID-19 crisis
“If your parents/grandparents are #BlueJays fans and you think their spirits would be raised by a phone call, send me a direct message with their name, number and best time to call,” the broadcaster said on Twitter last week.
The tweet garnered more than 5,300 likes and 675 retweets (and counting), as well as a whole whack of responses from the public.
Many called the gesture kind, cool and thoughtful, and a few replied thanking Campbell for already making a call to their family members.
“You are a real gentleman,” a B.C.resident tweeted back that same day. “Your phone call lifted my dad’s spirits, [and gave] him a ‘good news’ story he’ll share with others. Grandpa Bill isn’t on Twitter but asked me to again share his sincere thanks.”
One user even asked Campbell to call her brother “and chirp him for being a Yankees fan,” offering to send along a phone number. The host replied in good fun, asking her to “go for it.”
Eric Smith, who has covered the Toronto Raptors and other sports teams for decades on networks like the FAN 590 and Sporstnet, also got on board with the idea, commending Campbell’s deed and offering to do the same.
Serge Ibaka’s Shows Helped Him Strike Up Friendships With His Fellow Raptors – Narcity
Nothing is better than bonding over some good old fashion cooking. Or fashion, for that matter. That certainly seems to be the case for one Raptor. Serge Ibaka’s shows have been popular with fans and teammates alike for some time, and he admits they also helped him establish himself as a core Raptor.
Serge has wooed Toronto with his “How Hungry Are You” cooking show, not to mention his Uninterrupted collab “Avec Classe.”
It was the latter of those that sparked the infamous debate with OG Anunoby about fashion, and sent Toronto diving headfirst into a scarf obsession.
And in an interview published by The Athletic on Wednesday, Ibaka goes in-depth as to how his content creator skills helped him bond with his teammates in the 6ix as he came out of his shell and grew in confidence.
“It definitely really helped for my teammates to know me, to know me more. Yeah, it really helped,” said Ibaka.
And his teammate, friend, and all-around great guy Fred VanVleet agreed that it helped Ibaka open up to the rest of the roster as he let loose and just had fun.
“Off the court, he just opened up. We accept him and he accepted us. It’s fun to see him let his guard down and just be who he wants to be,” said VanVleet.
Scoring isn’t everything, but it’s hard not to marvel at some of the things Lowry has done this year from that standpoint. Through 52 games this season, Lowry has scored 20 or more points 27 times, nearly twice as many as his total in 65 total games last season (15).
That he’s doing so out of necessity only adds to his case. With Kawhi Leonard gone, defences know that Lowry is back to being one of the Raptors’ top-two scoring options and despite that fact, he’s still finding ways to efficiently produce at a high level, in his 14th season no less.
Almost naturally, his assists numbers have taken a slight dip but it’s worth noting that Lowry is still averaging the second-most assists per game in his career with 7.7, a figure that’s good for seventh in the league behind only Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic, Ricky Rubio, Trae Young and LeBron James, in that order.
Back in November, NBA.com asked Lowry about his historic start to the season, to which he replied: “All I care about is that my team is the best team that it could possibly be by the time this season’s over.” He continued, adding that, “for me, individually, whatever happens, happens.”
This brings us to the most important number of all: .719, the Raptors’ win percentage through 64 games.
Nick Nurse is deserving of the NBA Coach of the Year – Golden State Of Mind
I would guess that Nurse will ultimately win this award, which would set up a funny situation in Toronto. Casey won the award with the Raptors after the 2017-18 season, and Nurse in 2019-20. In between, they won a championship, but (presumably) not in the years of earning the award. Mildly amusing.
That aside, Nurse is incredibly well deserving. Many people expected the Raptors to be a fringe playoff team (which is ridiculous, but that’s a separate issue), and instead, Toronto has solidified themselves as one of the league’s elite.
Toronto lost Kawhi Leonard — quite arguably the best basketball player in the world — and barely missed a step. Nurse certainly doesn’t deserve all that credit — much goes to Masai Ujiri, and, of course, the bulk goes to the players — but he deserves a lot of it.
Toronto lost a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and yet has the second-best defense in the NBA. Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam have developed brilliantly, which Nurse deserves credit for. The chemistry and cohesion is top notch. The effort level is exceptional.
Give the man his award. And give him the best dressed award while you’re at it.
Matt Devlin appreciating early part of Raptors’ magic playoff run – Sportsnet.ca
Matt Devlin spoke about rewatching the Raptors’ playoff games from last season and appreciating what they were doing as early as their series against the Orlando Magic.
Greatest Game I Covered: Bucks’ success now started with 2017 Game 6 vs. Raptors – The Athletic
You can hear the desperation in the voices of coaches, fans and players during an NBA game. Sometimes it’s obvious, other times it’s subtle, but it’s there.
It’s cheering for baskets scored, booing officials following a controversial call, screaming when something goes right … and wrong.
Desperation existed in the greatest game I covered: Game 6 of the Bucks-Raptors series in the first round of the 2017 NBA playoffs.
The Raptors were overwhelming favorites, but a dominating 97-83 Game 1 victory by the young and inexperienced Bucks quickly flipped the expectations for the series. For those who thought Game 1 was a fluke after the Bucks lost, 106-100, in Game 2, Milwaukee responded and throttled the Raptors, 104-77, in Game 3 in Milwaukee. Then, they lost Games 4 and 5 to set the stage for a win-or-go-home Game 6.
Settling into my seat behind the basket in the Bradley Center just before the game tipped off, there was energy in the arena. It wasn’t just coming from the fans, but from the players as well.
This was the biggest game in the careers of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Both had been in the postseason with the Bucks in 2015, but neither had as significant a role the first time around. Now, both were leading the Bucks in scoring (Antetokounmpo with 24.8 points per game and Middleton with 14.3 in the series) and playing nearly 40 minutes per game.
Antetokounmpo came out of the gate strong, scoring 14 points in the first quarter, but the Bucks trailed, 28-24, after the first 12 minutes and saw the Raptors’ lead increase to 13, 51-38, at the half. Things didn’t improve for the Bucks when the second half started. After the Raptors hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, the Bucks trailed, 71-46, with 5 minutes, 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
As I typed out a tweet during the timeout following those threes, I casually chatted with Sports Illustrated’s Rob Mahoney (now with the Ringer). The conversation was easy because the Bradley Center was silent. I told him that if the Bucks remained composed and pressured the ball, they could get wide-open corner 3-point shots and easy looks at the rim.
When you think of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers, your mind will always be drawn to one play.
Kawhi Leonard’s shot became the first Game 7 buzzer-beating game-winner in NBA history, and the way the shot went down makes it all that much more memorable.
But there were plenty of other highlights and big plays throughout the series that will forever be overshadowed by one of the clutchest shots in NBA history.
Our friends over at TSN and Sportsnet are replaying each game from the Raptors’ playoff run, and the first game of this historic series starts on Wednesday night.
Take a look at some of the other top plays you may have forgotten throughout a back-and-forth battle between Toronto and Philly.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-KLSsWDiT2/
Kyle Lowry’s Birthday Was Celebrated With Raptors Video Messages From Isolation – Narcity
With everyone staying indoors, birthdays, like a lot in life, aren’t really the same right now. But the Toronto Raptors went all out to make sure one teammate was feeling the love on his cake day on March 25. It’s Kyle Lowry’s birthday and the team sent the All-Star point guard a touching video sent from all corners of the team’s self-isolation.
Though we’re sure Lowry never planned to celebrate turning 34 years of age in the midst of a global pandemic, at least he gets to spend his day alongside his beloved wife Ayahna and his kids Karter and Kameron.
And the Raptors did their best to make him feel like he was surrounded by his buddies on his big day with a wholesome video shared onto social media.
Many of his teammates, including Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, and Marc Gasol, sent KLow thoughtful video messages from their own respective shut-ins.
“Continue to be you, continue to live, love, laugh, inspire,” said Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in his video.
“Miss you,” added VanVleet. “I wish we were all together celebrating.”
So do we, Fred.
Steady Freddy added a “happy 27th birthday” later in the video, which unsurprisingly seemed to delight the 34-year-old Kyle.
