The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Scotiabank Arena, which it shares with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. Since the 2001–02 season, the Raptors have been the only Canadian-based team in the league, as the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee.
Christopher Wesson Bosh is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft. Bosh was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors.
CJCL is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toronto, while its transmitters are located near Grimsby atop the Niagara Escarpment. It is the flagship station for the Toronto Blue Jays, and also airs games from the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Bisons and Buffalo Bills. CJCL is also a CBS Sports Radio affiliate.
Jamaal Dane Magloire is a Canadian former professional basketball player who currently serves as basketball development consultant and community ambassador for the Toronto Raptors. He played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and Toronto Raptors. The 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), 265 lb center was selected out of the University of Kentucky by the Charlotte Hornets, with the 19th overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, after withdrawing his name from the previous draft. He was voted into the NBA All-Star Game in 2004, becoming the second Canadian All-Star in NBA history.
Dwane Lyndon Casey is an American basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons before transitioning to a front office position with the team. He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there for over a decade before moving on to the NBA. He was previously the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors, with whom he won the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2018.
The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. All 29 teams played a shortened 50-game-per-team regular season schedule and the 16 teams who qualified for the playoffs played a full post-season schedule. That season's All-Star Game, which would have been held in Philadelphia, was also canceled. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs winning the franchise's first NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the 1999 NBA Finals. This was the 50th season since the BAA and NBL had merged into the NBA.
Chuck Swirsky is an American–Canadian radio sports announcer. He is the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Swirsky's association with Chicago sports started in 1979 with his WCFL AM 1000 talk show, which debuted on August 27 of that year. Outside Chicago, Swirsky called play-by-play for both University of Michigan basketball and football and was formerly the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors.
Robert "Rob" Babcock was an American basketball executive. He served as a Vice President of Basketball Operations with the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA, and also as general manager of the Toronto Raptors from 2004 to 2006.
Mark Vernon Jones is a Canadian sportscaster for ABC and ESPN and the primary play-by-play announcer for Sacramento Kings games on NBC Sports California. Jones has been a member of the ESPN broadcasting family since 1990. Before then Jones worked for The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. He mostly works college football and NBA games on ABC and ESPN.
Edward Lewis Pinckney is an American former professional basketball player.
The 2000 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1999–2000 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers four games to two. Shaquille O'Neal was named NBA Finals MVP.
Kyle Terrell Lowry is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A six-time All-Star, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2016 and won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, their first and only title in franchise history. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Raptors players of all time due to his work with turning the franchise around, from the post-Vince Carter era to their first-ever championship in 2019. As starting point guard, Lowry played an integral role in the Raptors' success from 2012 to 2021. Lowry was also a member of the U.S. national team that won a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The Toronto Raptors have made 35 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft selections during their draft history. The Raptors began as an expansion team in 1995 and first participated in the NBA draft on June 28, 1995 at SkyDome, now known as Rogers Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1989, the NBA agreed with the National Basketball Players' Association to limit drafts to two rounds, an arrangement that has remained the same up the present time. Before each draft, an NBA draft lottery determines the first round selection order for the teams that missed the playoffs during the prior season. Teams can also trade their picks, which means that in some drafts teams may have more or less than two draft picks, although they must have at least one first-round pick every other year.
Paul Romanuk is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
The 2004–05 NBA season was the Raptors' tenth season in the National Basketball Association. A new management team of head coach Sam Mitchell, and General Manager Rob Babcock was hired before the 2004–05 season by the Raptors. On December 17, 2004, disgruntled All-Star Vince Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, and Alonzo Mourning. Mourning would never report to Toronto and he was waived not long after the trade. He later signed with the Miami Heat for his second stint. Guard Alvin Williams missed the entire season due to right knee inflammation. The Raptors finished fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 33–49 record, which was the same record as the previous season. Sophomore star Chris Bosh showed improvement averaging 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Paul Jones is a Canadian sportscaster. He previously served as the colour analyst on Raptors radio broadcasts, a role he had during the Raptors' inaugural season in 1995, with play-by-play man Mike Inglis on CFRB 1010. Currently, he serves as the Raptors' radio play-by-play announcer on Fan 590, alongside colour analyst Eric Smith.
James Patrick Johnson is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the starting power forward for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons from 2007 to 2009. He was drafted 16th overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.
Cory Ephram Joseph is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the point guard position and was previously the captain of the Canadian national team.
Justise Jon Winslow is an American professional basketball player for Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 2015 NCAA championship.
The 2016 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2015–16 season. The tournament ended with the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors 4 games to 3 after the Warriors led the series 3 games to 1. In the NBA Finals, LeBron James was named NBA Finals MVP.
