NBA Stories:
Toronto Raptors (
Basketball Team Documentary)
The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in
Toronto, Ontario, where their home court is at
Air Canada Centre. The Raptors are part of the
Atlantic Division of the
Eastern Conference in the
National Basketball Association (
NBA). The team was established in
1995, along with the
Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's expansion into
Canada. When the Grizzlies relocated to
Memphis, Tennessee to become the
Memphis Grizzlies in
2001, the Raptors became the only
Canadian team in the NBA. They originally played their home games at the SkyDome (later renamed
Rogers Centre), before moving to the Air Canada Centre in
1999.
Like most expansion teams, the Raptors struggled in their early years, but after the acquisition of
Vince Carter through a draft day trade in
1998, the team set league attendance records and made the
NBA playoffs in
2000, 2001, and
2002.
Carter was instrumental in leading the team to a then-franchise high 47 wins and their first playoff series win in 2001, where they advanced to the Eastern Conference
Semifinals. During the 2002--03 and 2003--04 seasons, they failed to make significant progress and he was traded in 2004 to the
New Jersey Nets.
After Carter left,
Chris Bosh emerged as the team leader. In 2006--07,
Bryan Colangelo's first full season as
President and
General Manager, a combination of
Bosh,
2006 first overall NBA draft pick
Andrea Bargnani and a revamp of the roster helped the Raptors qualify for their first playoff berth in five years, capturing the Atlantic Division title with 47 wins
. In the 2007--08 season, they advanced to the playoffs again, but failed to make the playoffs in each of the next five seasons. In a bid to persuade Bosh to stay, Colangelo overhauled the team roster for the 2009--10 season, but Bosh signed with the
Miami Heat in July
2010, ushering in yet another era of rebuilding for the Raptors.
After
Masai Ujiri was brought in as the new General Manager in
2013, he traded
Bargnani to the
New York Knicks. With a backcourt led by
DeMar DeRozan and
Kyle Lowry, the Raptors returned to the playoffs, won their second Atlantic Division title, and won a franchise record 48 games in the 2013--14 season. However, they failed for a fourth consecutive time to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs.
- published: 29 May 2014
- views: 49612