Canadian Crossing

2024 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

The Toronto Raptors figure things can't get much worse than the 2023-2024 NBA season. The team went 25-57 in the regular season, 12th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. Last season was the Raptors' first losing campaign since 2020-21 and the first non-pandemic season since 2012-2013.

The 2024-2025 squad starts out tonight at home versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Raptors are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the franchise.

The Toronto Raptors are building with guard Scottie Barnes, who signed a 5-year rookie extension. The deal is reportedly worth $225 million over the deal and perhaps up to $270 million, depending on met supermax criteria. The deal starts in the 2025-2026 season.

The Raptors re-signed free agent Garrett Temple. The team traded Jalen McDaniels to Sacramento for Davion Mitchell, Aleksandar Vezenkov (who was waived), draft rights to Jamal Shead (No. 45), and a 2025 Portland second-round pick that went to Sacramento. Gary Trent Jr. signed as a free agent with Milwaukee.

Toronto brought in — via the NBA draft — shooting guard Ja'Kobe Walter (#19 overall) from Baylor and centre Jonathan Mogbo (#31) from San Francisco as well as second round picks point guard Jamal Shead (#45) from Houston and power forward (#57) Ulrich Chomche from NBA Academy Africa.

The Raptors head coach is Darko Rajaković for his second season in charge.

The Raptors will retire Vince Carter’s No. 15 when they host Sacramento on Nov. 2, sources tell TSN.

Nearly 26 years after scoring the first ever basket at Scotiabank Arena, VC will be the first player in the franchise’s 30-year history to have his jersey go into the rafters. pic.twitter.com/0YGEPSPTap

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) September 23, 2024

The end of Vince Carter's stay in Toronto is not why he is getting the honour of the first Toronto Raptors player to have his number lifted into the rafters. Vince Carter put Toronto on the NBA map that may have kept the franchise in Toronto. (See Grizzlies, Vancouver).

Should be an amazing night for Toronto NBA fans.

Rogers Sportsnet has a list of other Raptors games to take note. The NBA Cup starts November 12: the Toronto Raptors are in a group with Detroit, Indiana, Miami, and Milwaukee. The Raptors only won a single game in the group stage last season in the inaugural in-season tournament.

2024-2025 Toronto Raptors TV schedule (Rogers Sportsnet)

2024-2025 Toronto Raptors TV schedule (TSN)

Rogers Sportsnet and TSN split the telecasts and radio games, even though Rogers bought out Bell in the MLSE deal.

Toronto gets a single telecast on ESPN traveling to play the New York Knicks on January 8. TNT has 4 teams that have zero games on its schedule: Toronto is one of those teams. This is the final year of the TNT deal as those rights move on to NBC and Amazon in 2025-2026.

The schedules are subject to change. NBA Network will have some Toronto Raptors games.

2024 Toronto Raptors NBA preseason schedule

Toronto gets a WNBA team in 2026

2023-2024 Toronto Raptors season wrapup: no NBA playoffs up north

2023 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

Toronto Raptors playoffs history

2023	Chicago	0-1
2022	Philadelphia	2-4
2020	Boston	3-4
2020	Brooklyn	4-0
2019	Golden State	4-2
2019	Milwaukee	4-2
2019	Philadelphia	4-3
2019	Orlando	4-1
2018	Cleveland	0-4
2018	Washington	4-2
2017	Cleveland	0-4
2017	Milwaukee	4-2
2016	Cleveland	2-4
2016	Miami	4-3
2016	Indiana	4-3
2015	Washington	0-4
2014	Brooklyn	3-4
2008	Orlando	1-4
2007	New Jersey	2-4
2002	Detroit	2-3
2001	Philadelphia	3-4
2001	New York	3-2
2000	New York	0-3

logo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA
Twitter capture: @JLew1050

2024 Toronto Raptors NBA preseason schedule

Coming soon 🍿

Our 2024 preseason schedule. pic.twitter.com/LW1UinOEzb

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) July 31, 2024

Hopefully you are somewhat optimistic about the 2024-2025 Toronto Raptors. The Raptors ran camp at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) October 1-5. This was the first training camp for the team in Montréal; the Raptors were in Quebec City before the 2019-2020 season.

Toronto stays in Montréal for the preseason opener against the Washington Wizards on October 6 at the Bell Centre as part of the league's NBA Canada series.

The Raptors travel to the U.S. federal capital to play the Washington Wizards on October 11. Toronto has a home-and-home with the Boston Celtics on October 13 (Boston) and October 15 (Toronto).

Toronto is Brooklyn bound for the final preseason game on October 18 against the Nets.

The NBA team is celebrating its 30th anniversary this season. Head coach Darko Rajakovic returns for his second season.

Rogers Sportsnet (October 13, 15) and TSN (October 6, 11, 18) split the telecasts in Canada. The NBA Network may have tape-delayed coverage. Check this space for when we know which outlet carries which games.

Date	Opponent	City	Time
October 6	Washington	Montréal	7:30p
October 11	Washington	Washington	7p
October 13	Boston	Boston	7p
October 15	Boston	Toronto	7p
October 18	Brooklyn	Brooklyn	7:30p
All times Eastern.

Toronto gets a WNBA team in 2026

2023-2024 Toronto Raptors season wrapup: no NBA playoffs up north

2023 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

The Toronto Raptors open the 2024-2025 regular season schedule on October 23 at Scotiabank Arena against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Toronto went 25-57 in the regular season, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference. Last season was the Raptors' first losing season since 2020-21 and second since 2012-13.

Twitter capture: @Raptors
photo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA

Toronto gets a WNBA team in 2026

.@WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert officially awards Toronto the 14th team in league history. pic.twitter.com/ysaWSKtQGi

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 23, 2024

The Toronto WNBA franchise will join the league in 2026. The WNBA team will have a home at the 8,700-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum in Exhibition Place with a bump up to Scotiabank Arena, maybe when Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever) will be in Canada.

If the introductory press conference is a sign, the idea of a WNBA team in Canada in Toronto has very strong appeal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow were on hand. Drake, former Toronto Raptor Kyle Lowry, and current Toronto Raptor Scottie Barnes were also at the event to announce the team.

Teresa Resch brings an impressive CV as the WNBA team's first president. Resch had spent the last 10 years with the Raptors, launching the Raptors 905, Toronto’s NBA G-League affiliate based in suburban Mississauga.

Larry Tanenbaum is the chairman and CEO of Kilmer Group, the WNBA team owners, and the chairman of the board for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Kilmer Group has a 25% ownership stake in MLSE.

Tanenbaum said the team will also play games in Vancouver and Montréal, something the NBA team has done in preseason.

There have been recent WNBA preseason games at Scotiabank Arena (2023) and Rogers Place in Edmonton (May 4) that were sold out.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian society coverage

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

There are 4 Canadians currently in the WNBA, all from Ontario:

Aaliyah Edwards, Kingston (Washington Mystics)
Bridget Carleton, Chatham (Minnesota Lynx)
Laeticia Amihere, Milton (Atlanta Dream)
Kia Nurse, Hamilton (Los Angeles Sparks)

The idea is to encourage Canadian girls to consider basketball as an option with a team on Canadian soil. Women's basketball in Toronto and Canada should be, pardon the pun, a slam dunk.

Twitter capture and photo credit: @TSN_Sports

2023-2024 Toronto Raptors season wrapup: no NBA playoffs up north

Editor's note: The NBA announced on April 17 that the league has banned Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter following an investigation into prop-betting irregularities.

After the 1-game play-in tournament loss in 2023, the 2023-2024 Toronto Raptors didn't even come close to that kind of playoff pressure.

The 2023-2024 Toronto Raptors finished with a 25-57 record with a winning percentage of .305. The team lost 21 of the final 24 games and had the fifth worst record in franchise history. This was the team's second losing record in a decade and the only one in a full season since 2012-2013. Darko Rajaković had a rough start in his first season as the Raptors head coach.

The home record was 14-27 for a .341 winning percentage. Consider that the 2020-2021 Raptors, who had to play their home games in Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, had a home record that season of 16-20 for a .444 winning percentage.

Gradey Dick addresses the fans ahead of the @Raptors final home game of the season 🫡 pic.twitter.com/dh2QMOkPWC

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2024

The 2023-2024 Toronto Raptors were more about getting rid of players with ties to the 2019 NBA title winners. In late December, OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn went from Toronto to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 second round pick from Detroit. In mid-January, the Raptors traded Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis Jr., and 3 first-round picks.

The Detroit Pistons also had a bad season, tying a NBA mark with 28 straight losses. The Raptors snapped that streak with a 129–127 loss in Detroit on December 30. The Raptors had a 15-game losing streak that was snapped earlier this month.

Two-way centre Jontay Porter made headlines over very terrible allegations. The NBA is investigating Porter over "multiple instances of betting irregularities over the past several months." The allegations involve unders on prop bets, meaning that Porter wouldn't reach those numbers in the game. Brief appearances in games on January 26 and March 20 were especially concerning.

Porter signed a two-way contract with the Raptors back on December 9.

2023 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

2023 Toronto Raptors preseason schedule

Canadian film review: The Grizzlie Truth

2023 NBA Toronto Raptors play-in tournament preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

Hopefully, a good enough draft pick plus the continued maturation of recent draft picks such as Gradey Dick and Scottie Barnes will make for a better season in 2024-2025.

Toronto Raptors playoffs history

2023	Chicago	0-1
2022	Philadelphia	2-4
2020	Boston	3-4
2020	Brooklyn	4-0
2019	Golden State	4-2
2019	Milwaukee	4-2
2019	Philadelphia	4-3
2019	Orlando	4-1
2018	Cleveland	0-4
2018	Washington	4-2
2017	Cleveland	0-4
2017	Milwaukee	4-2
2016	Cleveland	2-4
2016	Miami	4-3
2016	Indiana	4-3
2015	Washington	0-4
2014	Brooklyn	3-4
2008	Orlando	1-4
2007	New Jersey	2-4
2002	Detroit	2-3
2001	Philadelphia	3-4
2001	New York	3-2
2000	New York	0-3

logo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA
Twitter capture: @Sportsnet
video credit: CBC News

2023 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

Raptors’ full 2023-24 schedule: pic.twitter.com/qmpARnUigs

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) August 17, 2023

The 2023-2024 Toronto Raptors goals are rather basic. Do well enough to avoid the play-in tournament. Maybe win a playoff round.

The Raptors worked hard to get Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland ended up dealing Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes are the most recognizable names on the Toronto Raptors squad with rookie head coach Darko Rajakovic. Gradey Dick is the 1st round pick for the Raptors.

The Raptors finished with a 4-0 preseason record.

Toronto opens its 2023-2024 schedule tonight at Scotiabank Arena against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The season ends on April 14 with back-to-back away games at Miami.

The NBA has a new in-season tournament group play setup. The Raptors play Boston, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Orlando. The Raptors play 2 games the week of December 4 based from those games.

If you want to circle the return of former head coach Nick Nurse to Toronto, the Philadelphia 76ers visit Canada on October 28 and March 31. Former Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet comes to Toronto with his Houston Rockets on February 9.

Rogers Sportsnet and TSN will split the TV and radio schedules with each outlet carrying 41 games.

Matt Devlin, who spent part of his off-season calling Toronto Blue Jays games on Rogers Sportsnet, is back to his day job as the play-by-play voice for all 82 Raptors games. NBA TV Canada produces all 82 Raptors telecasts. 

TSN: Jack “The Coach” Armstrong on colour analysis with Kayla Grey as the sideline reporter
Rogers Sportsnet: Former Raptor Alvin Williams provides colour analysis and Savanna Hamilton is the sideline reporter.

Eric Smith handles play-by-play duties on Sportsnet 590 The FAN and TSN 1050 Toronto. Paul Jones is the colour analyst for Sportsnet 590 and Jevohn Shepherd is the colour analyst on TSN 1050.

The Raptors will have little U.S. national exposure. Toronto has 3 road games on NBA TV: at Philadelphia on November 2, at Washington on December 27, and at Indiana on February 26. The lone TNT game is in Toronto as Chicago comes to visit on January 18. ESPN has no scheduled Toronto Raptors games, mimicking their "love" for Canada in the NHL.

2023 Toronto Raptors preseason schedule

Canadian film review: The Grizzlie Truth

2023 NBA Toronto Raptors play-in tournament preview

Jully Black opens the door for O Canada lyrics change

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

We are counting last year's play-in tournament as the "playoffs" even if that happened in the blink of an eye.

Toronto Raptors playoffs history

2023	Chicago	0-1
2022	Philadelphia	2-4
2020	Boston	3-4
2020	Brooklyn	4-0
2019	Golden State	4-2
2019	Milwaukee	4-2
2019	Philadelphia	4-3
2019	Orlando	4-1
2018	Cleveland	0-4
2018	Washington	4-2
2017	Cleveland	0-4
2017	Milwaukee	4-2
2016	Cleveland	2-4
2016	Miami	4-3
2016	Indiana	4-3
2015	Washington	0-4
2014	Brooklyn	3-4
2008	Orlando	1-4
2007	New Jersey	2-4
2002	Detroit	2-3
2001	Philadelphia	3-4
2001	New York	3-2
2000	New York	0-3

Twitter capture: @JLew1050
logo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA

2023 Toronto Raptors preseason schedule

The Toronto Raptors get to play all but 1 game of its 2023 preseason schedule on Canadian soil.

The Raptors NBA preseason opener is a return to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, the first game there since 2018. The game will be October 8 against Sacramento.

Toronto hosts Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) on October 15 and the Washington Wizards on October 20. The lone game in the United States is in Chicago on October 17.

The NBA Canada Series also features a preseason game that doesn't involve the Raptors. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons play at the Bell Centre in Montréal on October 12. 

The Raptors are training in Burnaby, BC this season under rookie head coach Darko Rajakovic.

Rogers Sportsnet (October 8, 15) and TSN (October 17, 20) split the telecasts in Canada. The NBA Network may have tape-delayed coverage.

Date	Opponent	City	Time
October 8	Sacramento	Vancouver	8p
October 15	Cairns Taipans	Toronto	6p
October 17	Chicago	Chicago	8p
October 20	Washington	Toronto	7:30p
All times Eastern.

Canadian film review: The Grizzlie Truth

2023 NBA Toronto Raptors play-in tournament preview

Jully Black opens the door for O Canada lyrics change

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

The Toronto Raptors open the 2023-2024 regular season schedule on October 25 at Scotiabank Arena against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

photo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA

Canadian film review: The Grizzlie Truth

When we think of departed sports franchises in Canada, most people might think about the Montréal Expos. Kathleen Jayme thinks about her Vancouver Grizzlies.

6 short seasons in Vancouver. The NBA opened its way to Canada in 1995 for Toronto and Vancouver. The Toronto Raptors had their struggles and stuck around. Why not the Vancouver Grizzlies? The Grizzlie Truth is out to find answers.

Basketball was invented by a Canadian (James Naismith). The Toronto Huskies hosted the first Basketball Association of America, frontrunner to the NBA, in 1946.

Jayme is a superfan and talks to other superfans of the Grizzlies. She talks about the popular support for basketball in her home country of Philippines and adapted that in her home in Vancouver.

Stu Jackson gets a lot of blame for why the Grizzlies stay was short. Steve Francis is another villain in his own way. Vancouver drafted Francis but he didn't want to come to Vancouver. The only negative he listed was taxes. The story was remnant of Eric Lindros with Quebec Nordiques, except the Nordiques got a lot more value for Lindros than the Grizzlies got from Houston for Francis.

Jayme got to talk to both of them in a rather surprising fashion. Did they answer every question every fan had? No. They answered quite a few questions.

She touches on the Canadian teams being placed in a huge disadvantage by the NBA. This was not done before or since to other expansion teams, only for the Canadian teams. The new teams were not allowed to make a pick in the top 5 in the regular 1995 NBA draft. The Raptors and Grizzlies were also not allowed to get the top pick for their first 3 seasons, even if they were to win the draft lottery. They were not allowed to use their full salary cap for 2 seasons.

The Raptors and Grizzlies suffered severely from these restrictions. Vince Carter (Raptors) might have been a key force for why the Raptors stayed.

The NBA had played in places such as Buffalo, Cincinnati, Baltimore, St. Louis, Kansas City, and twice in San Diego. Memphis wasn't necessarily a better destination for the Grizzlies as Oklahoma City wasn't for the Seattle SuperSonics. The NBA had the potential for great rivalries with Portland (Trail Blazers), Seattle, and Vancouver but sacrificed that for smaller cities in the U.S. south.

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

Unlike people ironically wearing Montréal Expos hats, the Grizzlies haven't been all that visible in the 20+ years since leaving Vancouver. Jayme takes a bold move and goes to Memphis to see if she can love these Grizzlies. Those fanbases that have lost a franchise wouldn't dream of going to the new place.

We won't give away what happened but this bold move might lose some of the people on her side throughout the documentary.

The documentary is a good catharsis for fans who have lost a franchise. Finding answers as to why a franchise disappears is often futile but there is meaning in the search. The NBA didn't have a strong commitment to succeeding in Canada and not a strong sense of where franchises can succeed. Vancouver is a very strong market to support a NBA team but if the league can't see going back to Seattle, there will never be another chance in Vancouver.

There is a generation that knows little to nothing about the Vancouver Grizzlies. If you are a fan of Vancouver, the NBA, or both, The Grizzlie Truth will be a good watching experience.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The film was screened in Toronto at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in late 2022 with a brief Canadian theatrical run earlier this year. The Grizzlie Truth is available in Canada via Crave.

video credit: YouTube/Cargo Film & Releasing
photo credit: The Grizzlie Truth

2023 NBA Toronto Raptors play-in tournament preview

Next stop ➡️ Play-In Tournament

In case y’all were wondering how the format works, we got you covered pic.twitter.com/hDuzoxlKUD

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 6, 2023

Editor's note: Chicago defeated Toronto 109-105 in the NBA play-in tournament on Wednesday. The offseason begins.

The 2023 Toronto Raptors find themselves in the 2023 NBA play-in tournament. Which meant your humble narrator had to look this up.

This felt like the confusion over the 2020 NHL playoffs where they couldn't figure out whether the opening round was the playoffs. In other words, this is NBA purgatory.

The Raptors finished as the proverbial #9 seed, which means under the old rules, they would barely miss the playoffs. So Toronto gets a chance and a home game, hosting the Chicago Bulls, the #10 seed.

Should the Raptors advance past this game, the team will travel to the loser of the #7 seed (Miami) and the #8 seed (Atlanta). The winner of the Atlanta-Miami game becomes the playoffs #7 seed. The Raptors-Bulls winner versus the Heat-Hawks loser becomes the playoffs #8 seed.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James in 2021 said whoever came up with the play-in tournament "needs to be fired." Then again, the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, and Nashville Predators may want this in the NHL this week.

Milwaukee plays the #8 seed while Boston plays the #7 seed in the opening round of the actual NBA playoffs. Those were Toronto's final 2 opponents in the regular season.

Toronto won the season series with the Heat (3-1) and Bulls (2-1) but lost the season series with the Hawks (1-2). The irony is that the Raptors are the #9 seed because of the tiebreaker. Would the Raptors have fought harder without the safety net of the play-in tournament?

The 7/8 game is on Tuesday while the 9/10 game is on Wednesday. The play-in game to be the lowest seed is on Friday. The real NBA playoffs start Saturday. Game times are at 7:30 pm Eastern on Tuesday, 7 pm Eastern on Wednesday, and one of those starting times on Friday.

The play-in tournament gives the top 2 teams a chance to rest while teams beat each other up to play tired against really good teams.

In the first 2 seasons with the play-in tournament, none of the play-in teams advanced past the first round of the actual NBA playoffs. All of the 7 seeds stayed at 7 while 3 of the 4 #8 seeds were the original #9 seed. That is a good sign for the Raptors being at #9.

The game may come down to who has the better postseason game: former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan (Chicago) or current Raptors star Fred VanVleet (Toronto).

In the U.S., TNT has the Atlanta-Miami game Tuesday night as well as the Friday battle for the #8 seed in the playoffs. ESPN has the Chicago-Toronto game from Scotiabank Arena.

TSN will carry the play-in games in Canada. Rogers Sportsnet and TSN will split Raptors games in the actual playoffs.

I feel like Rod Roddy telling people they won't be confused about the next episode of Soap. You will be confused.

The Toronto Raptors finished the 2022-2023 NBA season with a 41-41 record, going 27-14 at home and a frustrating 14-27 road record.

The team had a quick exit in 2022 in the first round, missed the 2021 playoffs, and lost in 7 to Boston in the 2020 playoffs since winning the 2019 NBA title.

Most of the recent drama for the Raptors has been off the court. The team not converting Jeff Dowtin Jr.’s two-way contract so he is ineligible for the play-in tournament and playoffs. Whether these will be the final game(s) Nick Nurse will coach for the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors ceiling this season is 2 games above .500. Doesn't say "playoffs" with that type of track record.

Jully Black opens the door for O Canada lyrics change

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

2022 NBA Toronto Raptors preseason schedule

Toronto Raptors fall in 6 games to Philadelphia in 2022 NBA playoffs

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

Chicago hasn't played Toronto in the NHL playoffs since 1995 when the Maple Leafs lost in 7 in the opening round. Toronto has won 6 of the 9 series against Chicago (1931, 1932, 1938, 1940, 1962, 1967, 1986, 1994, 1995).

The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-2 in the 1993 American League Championship Series.

The Chicago Sting defeated the Toronto Blizzard 2 games to 0 to win the 1984 North American Soccer League championship.

Chicago and Toronto have never met in the NBA playoffs or postseason.

Toronto Raptors playoffs history

2023	Chicago	0-1
2022	Philadelphia	2-4
2020	Boston	3-4
2020	Brooklyn	4-0
2019	Golden State	4-2
2019	Milwaukee	4-2
2019	Philadelphia	4-3
2019	Orlando	4-1
2018	Cleveland	0-4
2018	Washington	4-2
2017	Cleveland	0-4
2017	Milwaukee	4-2
2016	Cleveland	2-4
2016	Miami	4-3
2016	Indiana	4-3
2015	Washington	0-4
2014	Brooklyn	3-4
2008	Orlando	1-4
2007	New Jersey	2-4
2002	Detroit	2-3
2001	Philadelphia	3-4
2001	New York	3-2
2000	New York	0-3

Twitter capture: @Raptors
photo credit: NBA
logo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA

Jully Black opens the door for O Canada lyrics change

My initial reaction to the news about Jully Black changing the O Canada lyrics was "They show O Canada during the NBA All-Star Game?" As readers of our MLB section would know, MLB and Fox Sports have been incessantly obnoxious in refusing to show O Canada to U.S. viewers.

The Tenors changed O Canada before the 2016 All-Star Game. The group kicked out Remigio Pereira for changing the lyrics on his own to a slam against Black Lives Matter. Even in that case, the American audience, should they have seen the anthem, would have been like "those aren't the words."

Jully Black changed the lyrics from "our home and native land" to "our home on native land" to reflect the original Indigenous settlers in what is now Canada.

A subtle and meaningful change. The vocal differences between "and" and "on" means you could slip it in without people noticing. Good on Jully Black to start out the conversation.

“if there was a white face singing the anthem and changed that word, white Canada… would act more quickly… policies would be changing right now.” @JullyBlack on whether the words of the Canadian national anthem should change permanently. she’s right!!! https://t.co/XScDKSkUf9

— Kathleen Newman-Bremang (@KathleenNB) February 22, 2023

Senate finally passes gender-neutral O Canada bill

The English language version changed in 2018 going from "True patriot love in all thy sons command" to "True patriot love in all of us command."

The change, approved in 2018, was brought up by Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger, who introduced a private member's bill (defined as not coming from the government in power). The House of Commons passed the bill in June 2016. Bélanger passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease on August 15, 2016.

The extensive delay came from conservative senators who delayed the passage until 2018.

O Canada became the country's national anthem in 1980.

Unlike the English version, the French version hasn't changed in awhile: The French version starts out: "O Canada, Terre de nos aïeux." This essentially translates into "Land of our ancestors." The definition of nos | ours would be the concern. Is it "ours" in the sense of Jacques Cartier, the first European to "discover" what is now Quebec City and Montréal.

Quebecers of European descent likely think of Cartier, even if the wording changes. Nos is subjective and not objective so interpretations can vary.

Even though this line is a basic translation of the English language version, most of the French version is not a translation of the English version.

MLB, Rob Manfred, MLB on Fox need to stop disrespecting Canada

Preaching patriotism on anthems easier when you sing the words 

Empathy for Bélanger might have been more of a motivator to get the gender neutral language changed for O Canada. There are fewer conservative senators by any name in the Canadian Senate than there were back then.

The hostility against a needed change would certainly be a force in future adaptations. 

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

We talk often about groups going for more and better representation in Canadian society needing allies in their battles. Black made a strong point that you don't have to be Indigenous to make this point about "native land."

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

The NBA finally expanded into Canada in 1995 with the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies left Vancouver after the 2000-2001 season.

The open hostility by the NBA against the Canadian teams was exclusive and legendary. Both Canadian teams were denied access to the top five picks in the first draft. The teams were not allowed a top draft pick in the following 3 seasons, even if they won the lottery. The teams were prohibited from using their full salary cap for the first 2 seasons.

The NBA has only had a single All-Star Game on Canadian soil in 2016 at what was then Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Transplant, Sort Of win top TV honours at 2022 Canadian Screen Awards

Jully Black is more than just a top Canadian musician. Black got a 2022 Canadian Screen Award nomination for her portrayal of Nina Francis on Diggstown. Black lost out to Tamara Podemski on Coroner for Best Guest Performance, Drama Series.

video credit: YouTube/NBA
Twitter capture: @KathleenNB
photo credit: me

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA preview

The Toronto Raptors used to be known as the "1-and-out" playoff team. In the first 7 playoff appearances, the Raptors lost the first playoff round in 6 of those playoffs. Last year was the first time that happened to Toronto since 2015.

The team had a few bad breaks and the Philadelphia 76ers played really well in that playoff series. Hoping this season leads to a stronger and more meaningful NBA playoffs experience.

Difficult to believe this is only the second year for Scottie Barnes. There was a lot to like in seeing Barnes on the court in his rookie year and the potential of more to come in his second season.

Barnes should form an everyday lineup with Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam.

Key bench players include Precious Achiuwa, Khem Birch, Chris Boucher, Otto Porter Jr., and Thaddeus Young.

2022 NBA Toronto Raptors preseason schedule

Toronto Raptors fall in 6 games to Philadelphia in 2022 NBA playoffs

Rogers Sportsnet and TSN split the Toronto Raptors games. Matt Devlin, who got in some extra work this summer calling Toronto Blue Jays games on Rogers Sportsnet, calls Raptors games on both outlets. Jack Armstrong is the TSN analyst while Alvin Williams is the lead analyst on Rogers Sportsnet. Amy Audibert is the sideline reporter for Sportsnet while Kayla Grey has those duties on TSN.

The Sportsnet studio features host Brad Fay alongside Sherman Hamilton and Danielle Michaud. The TSN studio has host Kate Beirness, with analysts Leo Rautins, Sam Mitchell, and Kia Nurse.

Paul Jones calls the Raptors games on TSN 1050 with Jevohn Shepherd and on FAN 590 with Eric Smith. Jonah from YYZ Sports Media reported that the Raptors radio crews won't go on road trips.

ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV have national NBA games. The Raptors slipped in presence south of the 49th parallel but have more telecasts this season.

December 27 LA Clippers, 7:30p (NBA TV)
January 4 Milwaukee, 7:30p (ESPN)
January 17 @ Milwaukee, 7:30p (TNT)
January 27 @ Golden State, 10p (NBA TV)
March 8 @ LA Clippers, 10p (ESPN)
March 10 @ LA Lakers, 10:30p (NBA TV)
March 14 Denver, 7:30p (NBA TV)
March 19 @ Milwaukee, 8p (NBA TV)
March 28 Miami, 7:30p (TNT)

All times Eastern. Schedule subject to change.

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs scoreboard

2022 Toronto Raptors NBA playoffs preview

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

The Toronto Raptors will open the 2022-23 campaign at home against Cleveland tonight. The final game will be April 9 at home against Milwaukee.

Toronto Raptors playoffs history

2022	Philadelphia	2-4
2020	Boston	3-4
2020	Brooklyn	4-0
2019	Golden State	4-2
2019	Milwaukee	4-2
2019	Philadelphia	4-3
2019	Orlando	4-1
2018	Cleveland	0-4
2018	Washington	4-2
2017	Cleveland	0-4
2017	Milwaukee	4-2
2016	Cleveland	2-4
2016	Miami	4-3
2016	Indiana	4-3
2015	Washington	0-4
2014	Brooklyn	3-4
2008	Orlando	1-4
2007	New Jersey	2-4
2002	Detroit	2-3
2001	Philadelphia	3-4
2001	New York	3-2
2000	New York	0-3

logo credit: Toronto Raptors/NBA