Congratulations to my Toronto Raptors on winning the 2019 NBA Finals & becoming the WORLD CHAMPIONS! The reason I refer to this team as mine, is because of the looooooong relationship that we’ve had 😉 This post will be a long one, so scroll past if you’re not interested!
I grew up with soccer as my favorite sport but basketball was a close second. This all changed in the 1993 NBA Finals. I was mesmerized by the dominance of Michael Jordan and the overall battle between the Bulls vs Suns. I shot hoops everyday that summer in my driveway on a makeshift wooden net that my father built me. During the next two NBA seasons, the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles. Hakeem Olajuwon was my favorite player during this time. I tried to mimic his every move on the court. I remember that I shook a defender off with the dream step, when I played for my grade 8 basketball team. My coach told me to dream step my butt to the bench! Lol! He didn’t want any flashy plays on his team.
When the NBA announced that Toronto was going to have a team, I was super excited!! All the students in my school were asked to fill out a survey, deciding on the team name. The choices were the Toronto Raptors or Towers. I friggin’ loved dinosaurs as a child! My brother and I watched The Land Before Time over and over again on VHS. Plus Jurassic Park was the biggest film during that time, so picking the Raptors was a no-brainer. When I found out that Isiah Thomas was the part-owner of the team, I took it as a sign that this was definitely my team! I wrote a school speech earlier that year on the Bad Boys- Detroit Pistons with Thomas as the leader.
I was surprised that the Toronto Raptors drafted Damon Stoudamire with their first pick. He was short! He was actually the same height as me...and I was 14 at the time! The rest of the team was made up of has beens and rejects of other teams (Oliver Miller, Tracy Murray, etc). Opening day was interesting. The team played at the Skydome. A cavernous stadium meant to seat 50,000 for the Toronto Blue Jays. It didn’t look right having a basketball court there. I’ll never forget when Alvin Robertson scored the first ever Raptors points on a three point shot! And we actually won the game (vs Nets)! Unfortunately, the team went on a 7-game losing streak afterwards and a dismal 21-61 record that season. One of the biggest highlights was when they actually won a game vs the 72-10 Chicago Bulls...with Steve Kerr missing the final shot (ironic). Damon Stoudamire won rookie of the year and quickly became our franchise leader.
Ohhh...The Vince Carter years. VC was amazing! He definitely was my favorite player at the time. I never saw anyone dunk like that before! He brought so much excitement to Toronto, Canada and the NBA, in general. Carter definitely put Toronto on the map. I remember going to Serbia for the summer and his name being mentioned, when I told people where I was from. That slam dunk contest in Oakland still stands as the greatest performance to date. After some early playoff exits and not coming through in the ECF semis, I expected Vince to elevate his game to the next level. But he stopped driving to the basket and said that “dunking was overrated.” I remember seeing him wince quite often when he took contact. He looked unmotivated and fragile. Vince Carter was eventually traded to the New Jersey Nets for absolutely nothing. It destroyed our franchise for years to come. I was so upset. Especially when Carter went back to playing aggressively and had incredible seasons for his new team. I truly felt hurt and disrespected as a Raptors fan. I despised him for years to come...
After the Raptors bombed the next couple of seasons, they were fortunate enough to land the number one pick in the NBA draft. I couldn’t believe they used it to draft Andrea Bargnani. He actually had a solid rookie year but I didn’t trust him to be good in the long run, which proved to be correct. With Chris Bosh as our franchise leader, the team made the playoffs a couple of seasons but lost in the first round. Then Bosh left in free agency to join Lebron and Wade in Miami. You all know the rest.
The next handful of seasons were really tough as a Raptors fan. Young DeMar DeRozan was our guy and the team looked lost and inexperienced. I continued to watch throughout but it was rough! Slowly, the team started to piece together some good players. Trading for Kyle Lowry and drafting Jonas Valanciunas.
My wife and I moved to San Francisco in 2012. I got NBA League Pass immediately and watched every game. The first couple of years in our new city had challenges, especially for me. I wasn’t able to work without a visa and was struggling to make friends. Being a Toronto Raptors fan really filled that void for me. It gave me enthusiasm and some purpose in my life. And a tie to home.
In 2014, Deanna and I took a year sabbatical and backpacked across India, South and East Africa. I would set my alarm for 3am (in New Delhi) to watch the epic 7 game series vs the Brooklyn Nets. The Toronto Raptors would make the playoffs every season starting that year but would have a lot of misfortune. Getting swept in the first round by Washington hurt. And then losing to the Lebron James led Cleveland Cavaliers year after year stung!
No matter what difficulties the team was going through, I trusted our team president, Masai Ujiri. He made great decisions that put our team in the right direction. But when he traded DeMar DeRozan for Kawahi Leonard, I thought, what the h^*# is he doing? Leonard was injured the whole previous season and was a free agent after this year. Then I found out that Leonard was healthy and motivated to play...I was then down with the trade! My mentality was, let’s put it all on the line and go for it this year 🏆
What can I say for this year’s team. A wonderful group of players that play the right way. Unselfish, gritty, tough, defensive minded and play with all out hustle. Kawahi Leonard leads by example. A true professional with that stoic look to his face, with the sole focus to win. He doesn’t dance, show off or whine to the refs about foul calls. He brings the same focus and intensity on both the defensive and offensive end of the court. He is definitely my favorite player right now.
So, this is a summary of my 24 years following this team. If you’re still reading this, you probably now understand the deep relationship I have with my Toronto Raptors. Winning the NBA Finals meant a lot and was really emotional for me. They’ve really helped me in tough times and I’m forever grateful for that. My good friend Renée summarized it perfectly. She said to me, “you have a feeling none of us can have in basketball...you were birthed a team as a child, cheered them most of your life and watch them win their very first championship. No one will understand this feeling but you. Amazing, friend.”
