Deadspin: Toronto Raptors

Charles Oakley And Anthony Mason Had Some Profane Opinions On Those Awful Raptors Jerseys

Barry Petchesky — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:35:00 EST

Flash back to the '95-96 season, when the Toronto Raptors entered the NBA wearing their cartoon dinosaur jersey. (It's incredible that this was only 16 years ago, and someone thought these were okay. I mean, they were mocked at the time, but not enough. Not enough.) A former Raps employee recalls a ceremony held before a game against the Knicks: More »

Tickets For Sunday's Nets Game Against The Raptors Can Be Yours For Just $.01

Dom Cosentino — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:15:00 EST

It was just last week that StubHub prices for Wizards tickets had jumped overnight from 30 cents to to $2.50. But even that markup is 250 times what it will run you if you really, really want to catch Andrea Bargnani and his high-wire act from Toronto on Sunday evening in Newark (click the above image to enlarge). As of this writing, there are still eight different listings for penny seats for this game. So what are you waiting for? [Canadian Business, via Skeets] More »

Jamaal Magloire Airballed A Free Throw In Spectacular Fashion

Timothy Burke — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:56:53 EST

12 seconds left, game on the line. In whose hands do you want the ball? Definitely not Jamaal Magloire, who sealed a Pacers win by airballing his first free throw and bricking (but at least catching rim) on the second. [TSN] More »

Today In Very Canadian Headlines

Emma Carmichael — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EDT

Toronto's CTV News gives a generous headline to the original AP story: Mavericks win NBA title, knock off Bosh's Heat 105-95. [CTV; H/T Fark] More »

Here's What The Dunk Contest Looks Like Without The Dumb Props

Emma Carmichael — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST

Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan says he is done competing in any "prop dunk contest" for NBA All-Star weekend. DeRozan finished third in Saturday's contest, and he lost out to Blake Griffin, who dunked over a car with a choir singing R. Kelly in the background, and JaVale McGee, who brought out an extra hoop so he could dunk two balls at once. Serge Ibaka, who finished last, bit down on a "lost" toy hanging from the rim and gave it to a child actor who was pretending to cry at half-court. Meanwhile, DeRozan just dunked. "I'm a dunker," he said today, and continued, More »

Chris Bosh Unlikely To Enjoy Chris Bosh's New Theme Song

David Matthews — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:40:00 EST

Are you struggling to find a phrase to describe a product you bought that was supposed to be really good, but thus far is just disappointing? Maybe it was falsely advertised as top-of-the-line? It's "like a Bosh." [The Basketball Jones] More »

John Salley Story Corner: Down And Out In Toronto With Isiah Thomas And Crazy Alvin Robertson

John Salley — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Every week, John Salley, onetime Bad Boy and currently the arachnoid half of the Spider and the Henchman podcast, will regale us with an amusing and occasionally salacious story from his playing days. Today: Toronto's weird effect on NBA players. More »

When Preseason Games Of Grab-Ass Go Wrong

David Matthews — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:45:00 EDT

Last night's Raptors-Suns game featured this delightful sequence in which Reggie Evans fouled Grant Hill, which led to the two engaging in a spirited round of ironic ass-slappery. Both players were ejected. Via Skeets. More »

The Hedo Turkoglu Google-Commercial Parody Is Here To Creep You Out

David Matthews — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:55:00 EDT

This "parody" of those Google Search Story commercials is weird, to say the least, and bordering on bat-shit insane, to say more. While Turkoglu's been a bit of a disappointment this year, it's no reason to eat him. [YouTube] More »

Raptors Mascot Fails To Sublimate Prey Drive, Eats Cheerleader

Tommy Craggs — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:15:20 EST

Also found in his digestive tract: Hedo Turkoglu's jump shot. [YouTube] More »

Hedo Turkoglu: "Ball"

Barry Petchesky — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST

Maybe it's the noise, maybe it's the language barrier, but Hedo stymies TSN's Jack Armstrong with a nonsensical one-word answer. The answer to life, the universe and everything: "ball." More »

Chris Bosh's Groin Is Probably Sore Today

Weed Against Speed — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:15:41 EST

Paul Pierce posterized Chris Bosh on a dunk during Boston's 116-103 victory over Toronto yesterday. In the process, Pierce kneed Bosh in the groin and then was assessed a foul for taunting. And no Raptors teammate appeared to care. More »

Hedo Turkoglu Spurns Trail Blazers for Raptors

Gourmet Spud — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:15:34 EDT

ESPN is reporting that Toronto is giving him five years and $53 million. In addition, he won't have those pesky playoffs ruining his summers. More »

DeMar Derozan Heads North of the Border, Up Canada Way

KOGOD — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:43:04 EDT

9. Toronto Raptors: DeMar Derozan, USC I assume Skeets is happy, because his team landed one of the draft's most enticing players. Derozan can fly and he'll probably put some asses in the seats. More »

Chris Bosh Did Not Have A Good Birthday

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:15:59 EDT

The Toronto Raptors center turned 25 years old today, but I doubt that the gift he received was on his wish list—news has leaked of a lawsuit accusing him of being a deadbeat dad. More »

Shawn Marion Traded For Jermaine O'Neal

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:30:12 EST

ESPN reports that the Raptors and Heat will exchange big men in a four-player deal. Poor Marion is being sent from Miami to Toronto, which is really going to cut into his beach time. [ESPN] More »

How To Elude An Angry Kangaroo, And Other Helpful NBA Tips

Rick Chandler — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:30:53 EST

The Raptors' Nathan Juwai is probably the only NBA player to nearly get eaten by a crocodile. [NBA Fanhouse] More »

A Little Trash Talk For Your Tuesday

Rick Chandler — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:15:57 EST

First, the reasons Kevin Garnett's taunting actions here are a big bowl of wrong: the finger-waving gestures you see in the stills and in the video below are from the movie Bring It On. What? Kevin Garnett is a 15-year-old girl? Also, after all that tongue-wagging and gesturing, Jose Calderon whistled a pass by Garnett's head for an assist. Now, the reasons Garnett's actions were right: More »

30 Previews In 30 Days: The Toronto Raptors

Basketbawful — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:00:13 EDT

NBA training camps have begun; the season is rapidly approaching. Can you dig it? I knew that you could. And so we continue our previews: 30 of them in 30 days. Up next is a team that I'm previewing before the Spurs. Sorry, San Antonio. They are: The Toronto Raptors. More »

Jose Calderon Would Like to Apologize Personally For That Whole Slant-Eyed Team Photo Thing

Rick Chandler — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:30:55 EDT

Remember the tempest over the Spanish basketball team photo at the Beijing Olympics; the one where the players all pulled back back the skin at the corner of their eyes to make them look slanted? Jose Calderon is overcome with remorse over that. He's apologizing in the press, but not only that; He's personally replying to everyone who emailed him about it and apologizing to them as well. Holy Hochuli! More »

Free Darko On Toronto-Orlando

free darko — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:10:00 EDT

We're looking at every NBA Playoff series through the eyes of both Free Darko and Basket Bawful. Here's Free Darko's look at the Toronto Raptors-Orlando Magic series. Your author is Dr. LawyerIndianChief. More »

Toronto Versus Orlando: The "Now Here's A Series" Series

Basketbawful — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:45:17 EDT

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Over the next few days, Basket Bawful and Free Darko will be previewing each NBA Playoff series. Basket Bawful looks at the Eastern Conference today, continuing with the series between the Toronto Raptors and the Orlando Magic, which begins Sunday. More »

I Am Jose, Hear Me Roar ... In Spanish

skeets — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:15:18 EST

The NBA Closer is written by our Canadian weekend maestro J.E. Skeets. When he's not busy scouring the box scores or hawking merchandise, he can be heard on The Basketball Jones daily podcast. More »

Chris Bosh, Having Fun With The Internets

Leitch — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:00:19 EST

We support the Raptors' Chris Bosh and his (or, more accurately, his handlers, and NBA.com's) attempts to get himself voted on the NBA All-Star Team. Look what Gilbert hath wraught. More »

If Only David Stern Could Someday Call His Name

Leitch — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:20:28 EDT

Forgive us this brief (?) moment of third-grader-ness, but ... the starting forward for Lottomatica Roma in their exhibition game against the Toronto Raptor is named Gregor Fucka. He looks like a Fucka. More »

Bruce Willis Likes Him Some Jersey Beer

Leitch — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:00:23 EDT

We are sad to report to Action Movie Star Bruce Willis that just because the television station interviewing you is Canadian doesn't mean you can't start throwing out your handy R-rated movie catchphrases, no matter how blasted you are. More »

Open Thread: Nets vs. Raptors

mjdeadspin — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:23:33 EDT

There are 4 NBA playoff games on today, and I'd like to watch at least three of them. That means that my DVR's going to get a workout, you're probably going to get a couple of open threads, and if J.E. Skeets is arrested for throwing bricks at Vince Carter's children today, it might go unreported on Deadspin. More »

A Raptors Fan Lets Out His Vince Rage

Leitch — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:15:46 EDT

The Raptors-Nets series tips off tomorrow, and everyone's talking about the supposed "revenge" factor involving Vince Carter and his former team. We find this amusing that this is the big angle from the series, considering this has to be the first time media folk have cared about Raptors fans. More »

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Raptors Vs. Nets

Leitch — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:13:56 EDT

With last night's wrapup of the regular season, the playoff matchups are set. There are eight conference quarterfinal contests, and the whole shebang kicks off this Saturday. More »

What's The Right Price For MoPete's Head Sweat?

Leitch — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:15:58 EDT

We are not experts in the field of sports memorabilia, so we have a difficult time gaging just how much a certain piece of game-used swag is supposed to be worth. A John Kruk jock strap? A Michael Barrett cup? Mike Vanderjagt's shoulder pads? We have no idea. More »

Keep Your Children Away From Chris Bosh

Leitch — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:45:16 EDT

Proving once again that it's funny when a child gets hurt, we present the end of the Raptors game yesterday, when a small child reaches out to touch the hand of Chris Bosh ... and pays the price. More »

5, 4, 3... Wheee! Uh Oh...

mjdeadspin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:00:00 EDT

If you slept at all, chances are, you slept more peacefully than Michael Ruffin last night. Between the guilt, the "Dear God, what have I done" thoughts, and the endless "Thanks a lot, dickhead" phone calls from teammates, Michael Ruffin probably didn't sleep well. More »

Vince Carter, Back In Toronto: Awesome Idea!

Leitch — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:45:02 EST

Last night, the New Jersey Nets — our favorite team to play in NBA Live, by the way; if only they'd just move to Brooklyn already — handled the Toronto Raptors, helped of course by Vince Carter, whose exit from Toronto was one step removed from Tom Cruise refusing to leave the South Park closet until they sent him away. We can't think of an athlete who handled a trade demand worse; if this would have happened with the Maple Leafs, they'd still be beating a mannequin of Carter at City Hall. More »

Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Toronto Raptors

rickchand — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:30:49 EDT

It's hard to believe, but the NBA season is just around the corner. So come with us now as we present five tiny tidbits on each team, just to get you in the mood. Today we continue with the Atlantic Division, so do us a favor and send your tips to tips@deadspin.com. More »

Those Who Can't Coach, Blog

Leitch — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:45:19 EDT

It is one thing when Tommy Lasorda has some poor minion pretending to write in his voice for his MLB "blog." That's, you know, not real. But something kind of crazy has happened over at independent Raptors blog RaptorBlog: They've "hired" former Raptors coach Butch Carter as a regular blogger for the site. More »

What It Might Be Like When Stephon Marbury And Steve Francis Try To Share One Basketball

mjdeadspin — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 17:12:44 EDT

Big thanks to J.E. Skeets (who also takes a deeper look at the T.J. Ford/Charlie Villanueva trade) and the Basketball Jones for the heads-up. More »

"Leon ... POWE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Leitch — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:45:36 EDT

So we haven't been watching much summer league basketball, if just because the only local games on around these parts are the Knicks, and honestly, if we wanted to watch a snuff film, we'd just go see the new M. Night Shyamalan movie. More »

Charlie Villanueva Finds A New Home

mjdeadspin — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:12:27 EDT

In need of a point guard, and realizing that free agents flock to Toronto like women flock to bloggers, the Raptors acquired a point guard in a trade last night. T.J. Ford heads north of the border, and Charlie Villanueva goes back the other way to play alongside Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee. More »

The Crazy Trading Season Continues

mjdeadspin — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 13:15:40 EST

Anna Benson and Ron Artest have already found new homes, and now Kendra Davis joins in the fun, as the Knicks sent her and her husband back to Toronto in exchange for Jalen Rose and a first-round pick. More »

Blogdom's Best: Toronto Raptors

Leitch — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 13:45:37 EST

It might not — yet — have the online fanaticism and cachet of baseball, but the NBA and its fans are starting to catch up in the world of team-devoted blogs. To this end, Deadspin salutes these modem-addled souls and proudly presents Blogdom's Best, given to the most outstanding blog for each NBA team. There are fewer than there are for baseball, but they're out there, if you look. If you would like to nominate a blog (yours, even) for selection, just let us know at tips@deadspin.com. Today: The Toronto Raptors. More »