Toronto Raptors: 15 greatest NBA playoff moments
5. “[Expletive] Brooklyn”
Expectations were low heading into the 2013-14 season for the Raptors. Coming off a 34-48 season the year prior, Toronto was on the inside track to mediocrity.
Rather than battle for the bottom of the playoff standings, new team president Masai Ujiri decided to start the rebuild. Less than 20 games into the season, he traded away small forward Rudy Gay. At the time, most people believed Gay was one of the best players on Toronto’s roster.
But Toronto didn’t fall off after the trade. Instead, they took a huge step forward. Somehow, after a five-year drought, the Toronto Raptors were back in the NBA playoffs.
Their opponent? The Brooklyn Nets. In what will be remembered as one of the worst trades in NBA history, the Nets acquired a handful of veterans from the Boston Celtics prior to the season.
As the higher-seeded team, Toronto was hosting Game 1. As part of the celebration, the franchise opened up “Jurassic Park.” An outside viewing area for fans to watch the game together.
Before the game, team president Masai Ujiri addressed the crowd. He went through the normal administrative speech, “Go Raptors!”, “We are Canada!”, and other quotes you’d expect to hear from a high-ranking team executive. Then, he wanted to say one last thing before entering the arena:
The crowd erupted. After years of being the NBA’s forgotten franchise, Toronto wasn’t here to play nice. The Raptors were here to fight back.
Of course, the series itself didn’t go quite as planned. Brooklyn beat Toronto in an epic seven-game series which saw Paul Pierce swat away the Raptors’ postseason chances.
But that didn’t change Raptors’ fans opinion of Masai Ujiri. Ujiri was different from his predecessors. He was here to change the franchise. He’s done that.