50 Fun Facts About Toronto Raptors

Which defunct Toronto team hosted the Knickerbockers in the NBA's first game in 1946?

The Huskies folded after one season; the Raptors wear their blue-and-white kit on throwback 'Huskies Nights'.

With which other Canadian expansion team did the Raptors join the NBA in 1995?

The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001, leaving Toronto as the league's only Canadian franchise.

What was the then-record expansion fee paid for the Raptors franchise in 1993?

John Bitove's group won the 28th franchise; the Ontario lottery had to stop taking bets on NBA games as part of the deal.

The name 'Raptors', chosen by nationwide contest, was influenced by which 1993 film?

Beavers, Hogs, Tarantulas and T-Rex were among the ten finalists; fans named the playoff viewing party in Maple Leaf Square after the film too.

Why did the Raptors not revive the name of Toronto's 1946 BAA team in 1994?

Minnesota's wolf logo made a husky design impossible to distinguish, so the contest was held instead.

Which Hall of Fame point guard was the Raptors' first general manager?

He got an option to buy part of the team and hired Pistons assistant Brendan Malone as first coach before resigning in 1997.

Which uniform colour was chosen to honour the Canadian inventor of basketball?

The original scheme was bright red, purple, black and silver; the purple dinosaur dribbling a ball is a beloved relic.

Which point guard, booed by fans on draft night in 1995, went on to win Rookie of the Year for Toronto?

'Mighty Mouse' averaged 19 points and 9.3 assists; the draft-night crowd had wanted UCLA's Ed O'Bannon.

Who was the Raptors' first pick in the 1995 expansion draft, only to refuse to report?

The Bulls three-point specialist was promptly traded to Golden State for Carlos Rogers and Victor Alexander.

Where did the Raptors play their first four seasons before the Air Canada Centre opened?

The cavernous baseball dome was ill-suited to basketball; the current arena was renamed Scotiabank Arena in 2018.

Vince Carter came to Toronto in a 1998 draft-day trade for which fourth overall pick?

Carter had gone fifth to Golden State; the two were college teammates at North Carolina.

Vince Carter's Game 7 miss against Philadelphia in 2001 came hours after he did what that morning?

He shot 6-for-18 after 39 points in Game 6; the trip to Chapel Hill was widely criticised.

In 2004 the Raptors traded Vince Carter to which team?

He was booed on every return for years; the deal launched a Nets–Raptors rivalry that reached the playoffs in 2007 and 2014.

Which future Hall of Famer did the Raptors draft fourth overall in 2003?

He was inducted twice, as a player and as part of the 2008 Olympic team, and left for Miami in the 2010 free-agent summer.

The Raptors' 2006 first overall pick was the first European player ever taken number one. Who was he?

The Italian was traded to the Knicks in 2013 in one of the new general manager's first moves.

Which GM, hired in 2013, built teams that made the playoffs every year of his tenure and won the 2019 title?

Born in Britain to Nigerian and Kenyan parents, he had been a scout for Orlando and Denver.

Lowry arrived from Houston in 2012 after which free agent picked the Lakers over Toronto?

Lowry cost a future first-round pick and became the franchise's greatest point guard; the Raptors announced his number 7 would be retired in the 2026-27 season.

The Raptors' single-game scoring record, set against Milwaukee in January 2018, is how many points?

Carter and Terrence Ross had each scored 51; the win was Toronto's 12th straight at home.

The Raptors' bench boss was fired in May 2018 shortly after winning which award?

A second straight playoff sweep by LeBron's Cavaliers sealed it; Nick Nurse was promoted in June.

Whom did the Raptors trade to San Antonio in July 2018 for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green?

Jakob Pöltl and a protected first went too; DeRozan felt betrayed after being assured he would stay.

Kawhi Leonard's 15-footer to beat Philadelphia 92–90 in 2019 was the first what in NBA playoff history?

The 15-footer from the corner bounced four times on the rim before dropping for a 92–90 win.

The Raptors trailed which team 0–2 in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals before winning four straight?

It was the franchise's first conference title and first Finals appearance.

Who did the Raptors beat 4–2 in the 2019 NBA Finals for their first championship?

The two-time defending champions were led by Stephen Curry, son of former Raptor Dell Curry; Leonard was Finals MVP.

Kawhi Leonard left Toronto after one season to sign with which team?

The fear that he was a one-year rental had hung over the whole championship season.

Pascal Siakam won which award in 2019, the first man to pair it with an NBA title in the same season?

The Cameroonian was the 27th pick in 2016; he was traded to Indiana in January 2024.

Fred VanVleet, who went undrafted in 2016 and started for the 2019 champions, played college ball where?

His 'Bet on Yourself' mantra paid off with what was then the largest contract ever for an undrafted free agent, $85 million.

Where did the Raptors play their 'home' games during the 2020–21 season?

Canadian border restrictions during the pandemic forced them to Amalie Arena; they returned to Scotiabank Arena in September 2021.

Which Florida State forward, drafted fourth overall in 2021, was the 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year?

He became the face of the franchise after Siakam's departure and an All-Star in 2024.

Which former Grizzlies assistant replaced Nick Nurse as head coach in June 2023?

Nurse and his whole staff were fired after a play-in loss to Chicago; the Serbian coach inherited a rebuild.

Which forward did the Raptors get from New Orleans in February 2025 for Olynyk, Bruce Brown and a first-round pick?

A year earlier they had sent OG Anunoby to the Knicks for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.

What do fans call the outdoor viewing party outside the arena at Maple Leaf Square during playoff games?

The gatherings began in 2014 and are one of the NBA's most recognisable fan scenes.

Which Toronto rapper's OVO Sound label inspired an alternate Raptors road uniform?

He is the team's global ambassador; the 'Welcome Toronto' logo and jerseys are also tied to him.

What is the Raptors' slogan, referenced by the upward-pointing chevrons on their uniforms?

It launched with the 2014 playoff run and now appears on an upside-down tag at the hem of the jersey.

Which company bought the Raptors and their unfinished arena in February 1998 for $467 million?

The owners of the Maple Leafs paid $179 million for the team and $288 million for the arena.

Vince Carter's win in which 2000 event turned casual Torontonians into basketball fans?

'Vinsanity' followed; the Raptors set league attendance records and made three straight playoff trips.

Who scored the first points in Raptors history in a 94–79 win over the Nets on November 3, 1995?

Stoudamire had 10 points and 10 assists that night; the team finished 21–61 but beat the 72–10 Bulls.

Which 18-year-old, then the NBA's youngest player, was on the 1997–98 Raptors before starring in Orlando and Houston?

That team had five rookies and averaged 24.6 years old, the youngest in the league, and went 16–66.

Which veteran did the Raptors get from the Knicks in 1998 for Marcus Camby to add playoff experience?

Kevin Willis came in the same deal; Butch Carter's team was on the rise in the lockout season.

The Raptors' franchise player left in 2010 to join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on which team?

The sign-and-trade brought Toronto two first-round picks; his return was booed, though less harshly than McGrady's or Carter's.

Which coach, hired from the Mavericks in 2011, led Toronto to five division titles before his 2018 firing?

He was named Coach of the Year the same spring he was fired.

How many different players had been Raptors All-Stars by the end of the 2024-25 season?

Carter, Antonio Davis, Bosh, DeRozan, Lowry, Leonard, Siakam, VanVleet and Barnes; coaches Casey and Nurse also coached All-Star Games.

Nick Nurse won the league's top coaching award in 2020 after the Raptors posted what?

It came the season after Leonard left, with Siakam making All-NBA second team; OG Anunoby's buzzer-beater followed against Boston in the bubble.

Which long-time Detroit Pistons assistant was named the Raptors' first head coach?

Isiah Thomas, himself a Pistons legend, filled the front office with his own people after becoming the expansion team's general manager.

Which Hall of Fame coach replaced Butch Carter on the Raptors bench before the 2000-01 season?

He arrived with more than 30 years of coaching experience, and veteran playmaker Mark Jackson was signed the same summer.

Which former NBA MVP centre did the Raptors sign in the summer of 2001 to support Vince Carter?

The plan unravelled when Carter's jumper's knee ended his season and Toronto lost 13 straight before rallying into the playoffs.

Which Raptors rookie scored 48 points against Milwaukee in 2005-06, a franchise rookie record?

His selection at the 2005 draft had been widely mocked, but he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

The Raptors' G League affiliate, Raptors 905, takes its number from what?

The Mississauga-based club was announced in June 2015 and began play in the 2015-16 season.

In 2025, what did the Raptors have to do at home for fans to earn a Pizza Pizza slice?

Since 2018-19 the deal has required buying a first slice through the Pizza Pizza app to get the second one free.

Which executive, fresh from building Phoenix into a 62-win team, became Raptors GM in February 2006?

He had been named 2004-05 NBA Executive of the Year and immediately overhauled the roster for the 2006-07 division title.

Who took over the Raptors' basketball operations after Masai Ujiri was not re-signed in 2025?

He had been the team's general manager and was promoted to head of basketball operations after the 2025 NBA Finals.