New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) stands over Toronto Raptors guard Jamal Shead (23) next forward Herbert Jones (2) after Shead fell while trying to defend against the three point basket of Murray during the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Murray received a technical foul after standing over him. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
As the Toronto Raptors slumped to their sixth loss in eight games, frustration is coming to a boil.
Maybe not within the team itself, but fans are certainly going through it as the Raptors have fallen from as high as third in the Eastern Conference just six weeks ago, to seventh now and on the outside looking in for a guaranteed playoff berth.
One play in particular stood out in terms of summing up how fans are feeling about the team right now. With about 90 seconds remaining and the New Orleans Pelicans leading 116-101 on Wednesday night, Dejounte Murray was dribbling down the shot clock matched up against Jamal Shead before crossing him over and pulling up for a three-pointer.
Shead fell over, after which Murray stood over him and had a few words for him. It all looked extremely disrespectful, but — save for Immanuel Quickley — no Raptor appeared to genuinely take issue with it as head coach Darko Rajaković called timeout.
Murray received a technical foul for taunting after the referees reviewed the play.
Even though Quickley did approach Murray, he appeared to be quite restrained and wanting to have a conversation with someone who clearly wanted no part of it. Towards the end of it all, you can see Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes just casually walking towards the crowd.
That seems to have upset a lot of Raptors fans.
This is not the first time this season that the Raptors have been accused of being soft. The team is 4-18 against the top 10 teams in the league, with several games showing Toronto simply unable to cope with the opposing team’s level of physicality. They have thrown away several fourth quarter leads as opponents ramp up the intensity, and this isn’t the first time they’ve backed down from a confrontation, either.
Previously, there was a game where the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Raptors and Bobby Portis Jr. took a cheap shot at rookie Collin Murray-Boyles around the neck area. No one went at Portis, even though it was later even upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul.
There was another game where the New York Knicks were hammering the Raptors. Josh Hart hit a three-pointer while being fouled and as he was lying near the Toronto bench, he playfully gave gun gestures as if he were shooting them down. No one seemed annoyed, in fact, there were laughs and Brandon Ingram playfully threw a towel at him.
J.E. Skeets, a longtime Raptors fan and co-host of the “No Dunks” podcast, said via a tweet:
“I hate this Raptors team, man. No one did ANYTHING to try and defend Shead last night. (Yes, Quickley wanted to talk to Murray, but give me a break.) Not a bump, not a push, not one f*** given. The lack of leadership and fight on this team is embarrassing.”
Fans reminisced about the toughness of previous Raptors teams, especially Serge Ibaka never being one to back down in moments like these.
The Raptors sure have had some tough guys around when you think back. Charles Oakley would make an all-time tough guy starting five, while P.J. Tucker and James Johnson were certainly not to be messed with, either. Kyle Lowry never backed down from anyone even with his relatively small frame.
Jakob Poeltl is the only seven-footer on the current roster but is generally quite mild mannered. Garrett Temple, a veteran leader on the team, has generally presented himself as more of a peacemaker than anything in these situations. Down the roster there doesn’t seem to be anyone the opposing team would think twice about “poking the bear.”
As the Raptors try to battle for a playoff spot, that lack of toughness may only get exposed further.