[Excited – 116][Ori Journal – 33] Toronto Raptors
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Why NBA Eyes Canada
In the early 1990s, Toronto was one of the fastest growing cities in North America. As Canada’s largest financial center and multicultural city, its status was increasing day by day. Even professional sports teams in the United States have given high value to the potential and ticket power of Toronto, Canada’s representative city.
사진 확대 Toronto View
The Toronto Blue Jays, a major league baseball team, were already founded early in 1977. The Toronto Blue Jays were in peak season, winning the World Series for two consecutive years, in 1992 and 1993. There was no way Toronto would not be in the NHL of the North American Ice Hockey League.
Founded in 1917, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a long history as a member of the NHL and a representative ice hockey team in Canada. Except for the most American sport, the NFL, only one sport was absent in Toronto. It was basketball.
NBA’s Decision to Build 2 Basketball Teams
Of course, the Toronto Huskies were a founding member of the BAA League, the predecessor of the NBA in 1946, but basketball’s popularity was low even in the United States at that time and disappeared into history in one season. No Canadian NBA team has been born for more than 40 years since then, and Canadian basketball fans have been hoping for a Canadian basketball team. The emergence of basketball star Michael Jordan, who appeared like a comet in the early 1990s and shook the NBA stage, added fuel to this heat.
사진 확대 Toronto Huskies logo
Amid the NBA’s internationalization movement, the secretariat is preparing to expand the league. At the end of the 1994-1995 season, there were a total of 27 NBA teams. The NBA secretariat is looking for a new market and Canada is on the radar. David Stern, the NBA commissioner at the time, actively pushed for the foundation of the Canadian team.
If a basketball team is established in Canada, it is expected that profits such as advertising, broadcasting, and admission fees will increase significantly.
And Toronto and Vancouver were among the candidates. Toroto was a city where the population, broadcasting market, and sports consumption power had already been proven. In the end, the NBA approved the creation of new teams in Toronto and Vancouver in 1993. And he decided to join the NBA from the 1995-1996 season.
The real reason why an irrelevant dinosaur became a team name
The new club decided to name the team first. The management recruited team names through a citizen contest. More than 1,000 proposals poured in, and the final candidates included Beavers, which symbolizes Canada, Huskies, which represents cold weather, and Scorpions, which have intense images.
사진 확대 Toronto Raptors’ Home Stadium
In the process, the Huskies were excluded because their colors and mascot images felt similar to those of the wolves in Minnesota. Scorpion and Bieber didn’t feel like they were a perfect fit either. In the midst of this, a hit movie that shook the world appears in Hollywood in 1993. none other than Jurassic Park.
Velociraptor, a fast, clever, and sleek predator in the movie, led the trend as a symbol and representative icon of Jurassic Park. And this popularity spread to Toronto, Canada. As it happened, sharp claws and nimble movements matched the image of an essential striker in basketball. And as it was a time when young fans were increasing significantly at the time, they were sensitive to the trend and had a great affinity for dinosaurs.
사진 확대 Toronto Raptors Early Logo
In the end, the Raptors were selected as the best character to lead the trend without overlapping with existing Canadian sports teams such as hockey and baseball. In the end, it was the Raptors who topped the voting list for the contest. The Toronto Raptors selected red and purple as team colors and even completed the dinosaur logo.
Canadian Love of Basketball Blooms in Toronto
In 1995, the Toronto Raptors began their first season at the skydome, now the Rogers Centre. Although it was a new team, numerous Canadian basketball fans visited the home stadium. For your information, the team that was born in Vancouver was named Grizzly. However, Vancouver’s performance plummeted in the six years since its foundation, with no more than 30 wins, and spectators also began to leave the court. In addition, Vancouver, which had no time to endure due to its smaller economy than Toronto, eventually decided to relocate its headquarters to Memphis, the United States, in 2001. As a result, the number of basketball teams using Canada as their home stadium has been reduced to one Toronto.
사진 확대 Toronto Raptors Logo Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary
Of course, Toronto has never won more than 30 games in its first five seasons, but in its sixth season, it made its first playoff run with a 45-37 record and keeps its pride as Canada’s only NBA team.
사진 확대 NBA stars for the Canadian national team
During this period, Canadian basketball talents gradually appeared on the NBA stage. Steve Nash was the first NBA MVP from Canada and a major player in spreading the basketball craze throughout North America. Since then, stars such as Andrew Wiggins, Jamal Murray and R.J. Barrett have led the league with the pride of Canada.
사진 확대 Toronto Raptors Win NBA Championship
In the 2018-2019 season, the Raptors won their first NBA championship, marking a new milestone in Canadian professional sports history. Naturally, it was also the first Canadian team to win the championship.
NBA’s First Canadian Team Wins, Remembers Forever
Immediately after the victory, more than 2 million people gathered in downtown Toronto to enjoy the parade, and the Raptors went beyond just a local team and established themselves as “Canada’s Team.” This was the moment basketball proved to be not a marginal sport in Canada.
Also this year, the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Canadian Shai Gilzer Alexander, won the NBA, opening a true Canadian heyday. Coincidentally, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Toronto Raptors.
사진 확대 Canadian superstar SGA
The story of the Toronto Raptors was a miracle created by a city’s potential, fans’ enthusiasm, and one bold decision. After evolving into quick and clever predators worthy of the name “Raptors” after a long dark period in their early days, they have now become indispensable champions in NBA history.
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