Raptors ride began with a win 25 years ago

It was 1995 when they tore into our hearts

Tuesday was a big day worldwide, with the most anticipated U.S. election in years taking place. North of the border, it was also a day to reflect on an important sporting anniversary.

Twenty-five years earlier — Nov. 3, 1995 — marked the day the NBA officially arrived in Canada, with the Toronto Raptors taking on the New Jersey Nets at what was then the SkyDome.

The Raptors won 94-79, with former all-star Alvin Robertson scoring 30 points and future rookie-of-theyear Damon Stoudamire turning the negative opinions of fans who had booed him on draft night around by notching his first of 86 double-doubles with the Raptors.

Sporting white, pinstriped jerseys adorned in the front with a large red dinosaur, the Raptors showed more than 33,000 fans what the best professional basketball players in the world could do.

Well, kind of.

It was a far different era for hoops. The play was more rugged, three-pointers were largely an after-thought (the teams combined for five treys on just 19 attempts) and defence was prioritized.

The Nov. 3 debut had been a long time coming.

The Toronto Huskies played a single season in 1946 in the Basketball Association of America. The Buffalo Braves had spent some time in town, too, and there had been NBA exhibition games held at Maple Leaf Gardens and SkyDome from the 1970s to the 1990s. But these were few and far between, leaving a small, but dedicated faction of basketball diehards with precious little to satisfy their hoop cravings.

That's what made the arrival of the Raptors — and their ill-fated expansion cousins in Vancouver, who also started off with a Nov. 3 win — so thrilling and eagerly anticipated.

“This place is going to be packed with 30,000 people, a lot of them are not basketball fans,'' original Raptors head coach Brendan Malone had said on the eve of the game.

“It's going to be a happening. The NBA is back here in Toronto, and they are here so they can tell their children ... were at the Toronto SkyDome on November 3, 1995, for the Toronto Raptors first game like I was at the first game ever for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.”

The Grizzlies in Vancouver, might not have made it, but the Raptors are still here. They have been a huge success story, becoming Canada's basketball team and the 2019 league champions.

And the ride all started 25 years ago.

Hopefully it won't be too long until NBA games are played in Toronto again.