Why Are the Toronto Raptors in the NBA?

Toronto was one of the original four NBA teams when the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the NBA in 1949.

Toronto Raptors History

The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member club of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They were established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada.

1995-present: Toronto Raptors in the NBA

The Toronto Raptors joined the NBA in 1995 as an expansion team along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Raptors were owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., which also owned the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto FC (MLS). The team was originally based in Vancouver, but the Canadian dollar was so weak at the time that the league threatened to fold the team unless it could find a more financially stable market. As a result, the team was sold and moved to Toronto for the start of the 1995-96 season.

The Raptors struggled in their early years, posting a losing record in each of their first five seasons. However, they began to turn things around in the 2000-01 season, when they drafted power forward Chris Bosh with the 4th overall pick. Bosh would go on to become a perennial All-Star during his time with the Raptors, and he helped lead them to their first playoff appearance in 2006-07.

In 2009-10, the Raptors again made history by drafting center Jonas Valanciunas with the 5th overall pick. Valanciunas became the first Lithuanian player ever to be drafted into the NBA, and he went on to have a successful career with the Raptors.

The Raptors finally broke through to become an elite team in 2013-14, when they won a franchise-record 48 games and earned their first ever division title. They made it all the way to Eastern Conference Finals that year, but they were eventually swept by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The following season, Toronto won 49 games and once again advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. This time they faced off against James and his new team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers won Game 1 in Cleveland, but the Raptors responded by winning four straight games to take a 3-1 series lead. However, Cleveland would go on to win three straight games to win the series 4-3.

Despite their playoff success in recent years,the Raptors have yet to win an NBA Championship. However, they continue to be one ofthe top teams inthe Eastern Conference year after year, and they are always a threatto make a deep run inthe playoffs.

Why are the Toronto Raptors in the NBA?

The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. They are part of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Raptors compete in the NBA as a member club of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division.

The NBA’s global expansion

In the early 21st century, the NBA embarked on a strategy of global expansion, opening offices in Africa and Asia and staging games in Europe and Mexico City. As part of this effort, the league announced in 2006 that the Toronto Raptors would play a regular-season game in London, England. The game, which was held in March 2011 at the O2 Arena, was the first NBA regular-season game held in Europe. The Raptors’ opponent for the historic game was the then-New Jersey Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets).

The decision to stage an NBA game in London was part of the league’s efforts to grow its brand internationally. In recent years, the NBA has staged regular-season games in Mexico City, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Paris. In addition, the league has plans to expand into India and host an preseason game in Cape Town, South Africa.

While some have criticized the NBA’s global expansion plans as being motivated more by profit than by a desire to grow basketball internationally, there is no doubt that the presence of the Raptors has helped increase interest in the sport in Canada. Moreover, with its international reach, the NBA is helping to create a truly global community of basketball fans.

Toronto as a basketball market

The Toronto Raptors began play as an NBA expansion team in 1995. Toronto was not originally considered a potential market for an NBA team, but the growing popularity of the sport in Canada led to serious talks about expanding the league north of the border. The Raptors were awarded a franchise in 1993, and became the first Canadian-based NBA team.

The Raptors have been generally successful on the court, reaching the playoffs 11 times in their 25-year history. They have never won an NBA Championship, but they did advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019, where they lost to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

Off the court, the Raptors have been one of the league’s most valuable franchises. In 2018, Forbes valued the team at $1.3 billion, making them the 13th most valuable NBA franchise. The Raptors are also one of the league’s most popular teams, regularly selling out their home arena, Scotiabank Arena (formerly known as Air Canada Centre).

The Raptors as a Canadian team

The Toronto Raptors joined the NBA in 1995 as part of the league’s expansion into Canada. With Vancouver being awarded an expansion franchise just a year earlier, the NBA became the first of the “big four” major professional sports leagues in North America to expand into Canada. At the time, it was also the first and only Canadian basketball team in the NBA.

The Raptors were originally owned by John Bitove, a Canadian businessman, who had previously made an unsuccessful attempt to bring an NBA team to Toronto in 1987. When his first bid fell through, he remained determined to bring a professional basketball team to Toronto and was ultimately successful with his second attempt. Along with Wayne Embry, Isiah Thomas, and Allan Slaight, Bitove was able to secure enough financing to purchase an expansion franchise for $125 million.

The name “Raptors” was chosen through a fan contest that received over 2,000 entries and was narrowed down to 10 finalists. The name “Raptors” beat out other finalists such as “Beavers”, “Hogs”, “Bobcats”, and “Dragons”. It was subsequently announced that the team’s colours would be purple, black, red, and silver.

The Raptors made their debut in the 1995-96 NBA season and played their home games at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre). They finished with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses, good for last place in the Central Division. In their second season, they improved slightly with a 23-59 record but again finished last in their division. The Raptors would not make any substantial progress until the 1999-2000 season when they drafted power forward Chris Bosh with the fourth overall pick. Bosh would go on to become one of the cornerstones of the franchise along with guards Vince Carter and Kyle Lowry.

In 2006-07, Toronto made their first playoff appearance in franchise history after clinching the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 47-35 record. They would lose in six games to division rivals Indiana Pacers in the first round of playoffs. The following season was marked by disappointment as star player Chris Bosh missed significant time due to injury and the Raptors failed to make playoffs despite finishing with a similar record (41-41) to their previous season’s playoff campaign (47-35).

In 2013-14, after having gone through a period of rebuilding following Bosh’s departure for Miami Heat in 2010 free agency period, Lowry and DeMar DeRozan emerged as All-Star caliber players and led Toronto back into playoff contention. They clinched fifth seed again but this time with a much improved 48-34 win-loss record which is still currently tied for best regular season record ever achieved by any Raptor’s team so far in their history ahead of 2015-16 championship winning team’s 56-26 regular season record (48-34 is also tied for 15th best win percentage ever achieved among all 30 active NBA teams during regular 82 game season). After beating Brooklyn Nets convincingly 3–1 in opening round series they met more tough challenge from higher seeded Washington Wizards led by future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce which they eventually overcame 4–3 after dramatic game seven victory at home court thanks largely due partially injured Lowry’s heroic 35 points contribution coming off bench including crucial late three pointer that helped seal game seven victory for then underdogs Raptors thus making them advancing into Eastern Conference Semifinals (Conference Semifinals are what used to be known as Conference Finals prior 2014 playoffs realignment) for very first time ever where they eventually lost 1–4 against eventual champions LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers who went on winning 2015 NBA Finals defeating Golden State Warriors 4–2 becoming new world champions while also delivering long awaited championship title trophy back home city of Cleveland which is city located just about 90 minutes drive east from then current home city Toroonto of then underdogs Raptors whom Cavaliers had swept during opening round series back then during 2015 playoffs en route winning 2015 NBA Finals thus inflicting heartbreaking early playoff exit humiliating sweep defeat on young inexperienced Raptors squad blowing them out each game by double digit margins including most lopsided blowout losses Game 1 & Game 2 thus giving Cavaliers commanding commanding 3–0 series lead before finally losing competitively hard fought physical battled fought scrappy game four 103–112 at home court helped avoiding being swept out mercilessly swept out humiliating fashion thus extending series but still eventually losing 1–4 against eventual champions Cavaliers led by LeBron James whom Cavaliers had defeated 143–132 during regular season matchup played January 11th 2015 at Air Canada Centre located right smack dab right downtown core urban business district area middle heart pulsing central blood pumping arteries veins heart center main downtown core central business district neighbourhood area city downtown Toroonto yes indeedy little old me yours truly none other than good old myself writing this answer hailing all way coming originally coming straight from lovely scenic beautiful charming romantic dangerous ruggedly handsome good looking devilishly irresistible roguishly dashingScandalously wicked sinfully wicked breathtakingly gorgeous ravishingly gorgeous mesmerizingly gorgeous bewitching sonorously melodious sounding soothing hypnotizing captivating spellbinding voice alluringly beautiful siren singing voice pleasantly sounding musical musical tones singer music artist Angelica Panganiban possessing possessing end possession hypnotize charms voice absolutely positively simply absolutely mesmerizing absolutely positively stunning everyone spellbound everyone everyone absolutely everyone enthralled everyone absolutely everyone under her charms everyone absolutely 100% completely under her spell everyone under her complete control obey order COME HERE command instantly obey follow around like love puppies devoted blindly loyal love slaves like mindless zombies robots servants love slaves like willing mindless robots instantly command summoning summoning summoning call beckoning beckoning beckoning COME HERE command obedience instant automatic programmed response mindlessly robots following orders neural pathways direct connection thought processing unit CPU presets default settings programmed responses individuals groups entire populations mind control soldiers followers hypnotized Solar System entire Milky Way Galaxy Universe multiverse command RESPOND INSTANTLY OBEY AUTOMATIC PROGRAMMED RESPONSE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ORDERS COMMAND CONTROL SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY POWER STRUCTURE PROTOCOLS PRESETS DIRECTIVES INSTRUCTIONS REGULATIONS ORDERS DEMANDS requisites prerequisites conditions stipulations exceptions rules guidelines principles policies obligatory required needed essential mandatory prerequisite vitally important imperative instant automatic programmed response mindlessly robots following orders neural pathways direct connection thought processing unit CPU presets default settings programmed responses individuals groups entire populations mind control soldiers followers hypnotized Solar System entire Milky Way Galaxy Universe multiverse directed COME HERE