Nostalgia.
SIMMONS: Hard to celebrate the anniversary of the Raptors’ championship | Toronto Sun
Being a hub city for NHL games matters for money and business, not necessarily for hockey. By my rather rudimentary calculations, an NHL hub city will have to be able to provide some 15,800 nights of hotel rooms over eight weeks and 47,400 meals before the Stanley Cup final is even played. That’s a whole lot of local business and incoming taxes at a time when there isn’t much of either … The flaws in the NBA’s return to play are growing. The COVID-19 situation in Florida is rather drastic. Some NBA players don’t want to play for health reasons. Some don’t want to play for social reasons and all that is currently going on in with the racial discourse in America. This is getting more complicated than commissioner Adam Silver could have anticipated … It’s hard to be a commissioner in any sport. There’s no road map on how to deal with a world pandemic. It get more confusing when the laws of states and countries and provinces and borders all differ. Nothing prepared CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie for this and he’s struggling to find a way to deal with all of the issues. It’s the weakest Ambrosie has appeared since taking the impossible job … There’s a reason CFL players are getting antsy about their season. This is normally the time of their first paycheque. None are coming now. None are coming for a while … Gary Bettman has to be happy about what he sees around him. The NBA is struggling to figure things out. Baseball is fighting with itself. Football season is far away. For once, the NHL looks like the smart guys in a world of confusion … It’s an August night. And on television you have a choice — playoff basketball, playoff hockey or, if it comes back, regular-season baseball. For me it’s easy: 1. Stanley Cup playoffs; 2. NBA playoffs. 3. Baseball … Sports owners don’t make their big money selling tickets and television rights. Their real play is the equity of the franchise. Ted Rogers bought the Blue Jays for $137 million US in 2002. The team is apparently worth $1.65 billion now. Numbers like that make the current baseball fight between players and owners all the more unnecessary.
How the NBA Champion Raptors Give Frontline Workers an Escape | Complex
Masai Ujiri has given many a speech over the course of his tenure with the Raptors organization, and while “Fuck Brooklyn!” or “We don’t give a shit about it!” or even “We need a culture reset” might easily spring to mind, the one that played in Dr. Sivananthan’s head as the Raptors hoisted their first-ever Larry O’Brien trophy was a speech Ujiri delivered at a 2014-15 pre-season season seat holder event.
“I promise each and every one of you, the Toronto Raptors will become NBA champions.”
So, standing in Oracle Arena after the Raptors’ title-clinching Game 6 victory, it was difficult for Dr. Sivananthan—now a critical care doctor for the William Osler Health System—not to get emotional when Ujiri belted out those now immortal words: “I said we will win in Toronto, and we have won in Toronto!”
There was plenty of emotional equity on Dr. Sivananthan’s part that went into supporting the franchise through the ups and downs. The arrival and subsequent departures of Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Chris Bosh, the excitement of reaching the post-season, the disappointment of those embarrassing exits. And so, for Dr. Sivananthan, making the trip to San Francisco and possibly witnessing history was a no-brainer.
He flew in the morning of June 13, 2019, with three friends who had nothing on the pre-game agenda except tacos, IPAs, and highlights from the current playoff run. Once nourished, the crew took the subway to Oakland for a round of chirping Golden State Warriors fans before getting the adrenaline fully pumped with other Raptors fans in attendance. By the end, it was the perfect night, singing ‘O Canada’ with hundreds of other fans, high-fiving Pascal Siakam, and popping a bottle of bubbly in the privacy of their own room much later.
Hopping on a plane at a moment’s notice, bar hangouts, fans in attendance at an NBA game? A world filled with complete freedom of choice is a distant memory, especially for frontline workers who have put their lives at risk to provide some semblance of regular life for everyone around them.
“Life was normal,” Terri Ritter, a registered nurse with 28 years of experience—currently at Trillium Hospital in Mississauga, said. “It was about the championship, it was about, ‘What was Kawhi going to do? Where is the team going from here?’” She was also in attendance for the curtain raiser to the 2019-20 season, unable to resist the opportunity to see the Raptors players receive their championship rings and see the banner for the first time.
'It was just amazing:' A look back at the Raptors' Finals victory 1 year later | Q107 Toronto
“The way people were talking to me when they saw me everywhere I went, it was like we changed their lives,” the Congolese big man said. “To us, it’s just a game. We love this game. But I didn’t know how impactful it was for a lot of Canadians. And going to the airport, to the restaurant or anywhere, the way people were talking to me, the way people were reacting, thanking me with my teammates, all those things, it was like, ‘Wow.’
“After it changes some people’s lives or it’s helping some people, it was just amazing. That was one of the amazing things and even until now it’s still happening. Even until now.”
The NBA hopes to restart late next month with 22 teams based in Orlando, with the finals to be tentatively held in October.
Coach Nick Nurse said because the league’s been put on pause, he’s had more chance to reflect on his team’s historic achievement.
“It went fast huh? It sure flew by quickly; we’re already a year removed from that,” Nurse said. “Time keeps on moving even though it’s been a strange, strange year, that’s for sure. There’s been a lot of time to reflect on it and I’ve probably watched a lot more than I would have on TV and done a lot of calls and shows and recaps of it, so it’s been fun to go through it again.
“It’s still like very much right here as an amazing experience, a really special experience.”
Despite losing Leonard to the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency last summer, and a myriad of injuries to key players this season, the Raptors sat firmly in second in the Eastern Conference (48-16), and had locked up a playoff spot, when the league shut down on March 11.
Nurse said he’d expected his team to shoulder a ton of pressure as the defending champions this season, but he said the reality was they didn’t feel any.
The pieces are in place for the defending champion Raptors to run it back | CBC Sports
The players
The Raptors received nothing in return when Leonard bolted for the Clippers, or when Green signed with the Lakers. Instead, the strengths of the 2019-20 Raptors are what make them such a likable group.There’s Siakam, a former first-round pick who didn’t play organized basketball until he was 17 but seems to get better every year. Siakam was joined at his first career all-star game by Lowry, making his sixth appearance.
Lowry increased his points per game by more than five over last year while also improving his shooting percentages across the board. He’s as defensively feisty as ever and led the league in charges drawn at the pause.
VanVleet, once an undrafted free agent, stepped seamlessly into Green’s old starting role, picking up where he left off in the Finals as a red-hot shooter bringing the same defensive intensity as Lowry.
Terence Davis followed in VanVleet’s footsteps as an undrafted contributor to the team. Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka split starting centre duties without missing a beat. Norman Powell improved to the point where he garnered sixth man of the year consideration. OG Anunoby made an impressive comeback from an injury-plagued season.
There was no clear alpha dog. Sometimes it was Siakam, or maybe Lowry, but occasionally VanVleet and even Powell in the week before the pause.
A difference from last year, sure, but this team’s winning percentage was even higher.
The coach
Nick Nurse was getting buzz to win coach of the year for his efforts in keeping a Raptors team that many expected to keel off near the top of the league.Nurse, who spent years coaching in England as well as the NBA’s G League, has shown time and time again that his best trait is adaptability.
The 2019 champion Raptors rarely had their full squad, with Lowry and Leonard practically trading off absences. Seldom did the team miss a beat.
Austin Rivers: NBA players can use money from season to support Black Lives Matter
Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers made the case on Instagram that NBA players earning their salaries would be able to financially aid the cause while continuing to devote time and energy to the movement.
LA Clippers guard Lou Williams expressed concern on Twitter that fans watching games could distract from the movement and reduce participation in the peaceful protests that are taking place throughout the nation.
The comments from Rivers and Williams came the day after nearly 100 players, including several stars, took part in a 90-minute conference call in which concerns about the NBA’s planned restart at Disney World in Orlando were discussed, including social issues related to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Injured Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving made an impassioned plea for players to make a stand and sit out the resumption of the season, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Rivers stated his position Saturday while commenting on an Instagram post featuring a statement that Irving reportedly made during the call.
“I don’t support going to Orlando,” Irving said on the call, according to The Athletic. “I’m not with the systematic racism and the bulls—.”
Rivers responded that he was “trying to find the correlation,” punctuating that thought with the shrug emoji.
“Us coming back would put money in all of our (NBA players’) pockets,” Rivers continued. “With this money you could help out even more people and continue to give more importantly your time and energy towards the BLM movement. Which I’m 100% on board with. Because change needs to happen and injustice has been going on too long.”
Why LeBron James wasn’t on Friday’s NBA player call about Orlando concerns – The Athletic
The 35-year-old Lakers star who has long since become one of the game’s all-time greats has spent years leading the way in times like these, speaking out against racial injustices in America while making a profound impact on disadvantaged communities along the way. So with so many fellow players focused on those very issues, and wondering aloud whether the magnitude of this Black Lives Matter moment means they might be better off making a difference at home, why wouldn’t he join this particular chat that was led by his old co-star who is now a vice president for the National Basketball Players Association, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving?
Because sources say James, whose Lakers have as good a chance at the title as any of the 22 teams invited to Walt Disney World, believes playing in Orlando won’t deter his ability to continue inspiring change.
He wants to keep making his mark off the court. He wants to play basketball. And as has always been the case, he clearly believes he can do both at the same time.
As James has said for so long now, his preference for “keeping the main thing the main thing” is a central tenet of his ethos. He’s “More Than An Athlete,” to be sure, as the motto for his “Uninterrupted” platform goes. But it’s his dedication to the sport that led to his immense influence, that put this kid from Akron, Ohio in the spotlight at such a young age and would later lead to him becoming one of the most respected athletes of all time when it comes to making the most of your microphone.
So yes, in other words, he’s training hard for Orlando while still pushing for meaningful change in society. Case in point: On Thursday, it was announced that James and other athletes have started a group that will protect the voting rights of African Americans leading into the November election.
Pizza Pizza Deal Offers 50% Off Pies To Celebrate Raptors 2019 Championship Anniversary – Narcity
One year ago today, the Toronto Raptors won Canada’s first-ever NBA championship. Why not grab some celebratory grub? A Pizza Pizza deal for today only lets you get half off your pies.
If you order online or through the company app, you can put in the promo code “raptors” to get 50% off of any regular-priced pizza.
That means you can grab any of your favourites like the buffalo chicken, chipotle steak, or bacon double cheeseburger for half the price.
If you’re not inclined to eat meat, you can also get this same championship deal on vegetarian pies like the pesto amore, Greek, or tandoori veggie.
This deal is only available for June 13, so if you don’t feel like cooking, it might be the perfect night to order pizza and just hang out, reminiscing about the night the Raps took down the Golden State Warriors.
Where are they now: Raptors championship ring edition – TSN.ca
On the face of the ring, diamonds spell out the word NORTH inside of a chevron, paying homage to the red and white alternate jerseys the team wore on June 13, 2019 – the night they won the title. In the background, you can see the CN Tower and iconic Toronto skyline sitting atop Scotiabank Arena. At the centre of it all is the Larry O’Brien Trophy, topped by a record 1.25-carat diamond.
They’re definitely not subtle, but they were never supposed to be.
“This is the first one in the organization’s history and I think that was one of the things we wanted, to make sure it stands apart from every other ring that’s been done before,” Lowry said back in October. He was the only player to see the ring before they were unveiled to the rest of the team on opening night. “It’s the first team outside of the U.S. to have a ring, to win a championship, so we were like, “Listen, we can’t have it be like anyone else. We have to be different.’ ”
“This is not a ring you wear every day,” the all-star point guard explained. “This is a statement piece. You don’t wear it every day, you put it up, you can wear it once in a while, but I wanted [it to be larger] just because we wanted to show the details.”
At the time, Lowry said he planned to display the ring in his home. He already had a spot prepared. He was also looking forward to sharing it with his two young kids and reflecting back on it once he retires.
But what about the others? All 16 players on the Raptors’ title-winning roster have a ring with their name on it (though one has yet to receive his – more on that below). TSN caught up with a few of them to find out what they’ve done with their championship mementoes.
Why Lowry is most responsible for turning Raptors into championship team – Sportsnet.ca
From his on-court production to the catalogue quirky quotes, Kawhi Leonard’s time as a Raptor was brief but almost impossibly impactful.
But on the anniversary of the Raptors championship, it might be worth putting Kyle Lowry’s contribution in a fuller context and recognizing the single player most responsible for turning the Raptors into a championship organization.
“He knows everything that is going on around him. Every single thing,” is Raptors president Masai Ujiri’s scouting report on his longest-serving player. “And he just handles himself really, really well.”
Lowry got it done on the floor this time last year.
The Raptors title was a validation that shouldn’t have been necessary. But putting a ring on a player whose game is more about contributions that aren’t as easily captured by stats – unless you’re into the league’s ‘charges drawn’ leaders – provides a useful shorthand to swat away uninformed opinions with.
But in the context of the nearly three weeks of social unrest that has brought the United States and other countries to a potential reckoning on social and racial injustices, Lowry’s off-court contributions from a year ago deserve more discussion.
Two moments, in particular, stand out as Lowry was able to defuse tense and even racially charged moments and come out looking like the better man.
The first came in early in the fourth quarter of Game 3 at Oracle Arena in a win that signaled the Raptors weren’t just happy to be in their first Finals, but that they were there to be heard.
Lowry dives hard into the first row to save a ball headed out of bounds and ends up in the lap of a fan – another signature Lowry play. But before he can get back to the floor another fan pushes Lowry and yells at the Raptors star.
Lowry, agitated but cool in the moment, motions for the referees to intervene and minutes later the fan is escorted out of the building.
