TORONTO — There was no singular sequence, no signature highlight, upon which to pin the moment the Toronto Raptors entered this new era.
The four-bounce masterpiece against Philly — the first Game 7 series-clincher in NBA history — is the likely candidate. But that betrays the ruthless dunk on Giannis, an exclamation mark punctuating the statement that was Toronto’s dispensing of Milwaukee. It forgets the demoralizing jam over Embiid, the ice-cold step-back over Lopez.
No, it’s been a collection of marquee plays from the most dominant marquee name the Raptors — and perhaps Toronto as a whole — have ever had that’s made this 2019 post-season run one that will be remembered in these streets forever.
Just as it’s been a collection of moments over the past 24 years that has ushered these current Raptors to the game’s biggest stage.
Two-and-a-half decades before Kawhi Leonard was singlehandedly altering the first thoughts that come to mind when a Raptors logo appears on-screen, the city’s first-ever crew of professional ballers were trying to do the same, the hill to climb seeming much more insurmountable.
Tracy Murray remembers every moment of it.
The 12-year NBA veteran and former champ’s ties with the Raptors run deep. He was, of course, among the very first to ever don the team’s jersey, suiting up for the inaugural 1995-96 squad after signing on as a free agent. Leaving the following summer, he made his way back to the Raptors via trade in 2001, when the franchise earned its first-ever playoff victory and series win — both coming against the Knicks, one series prior to a 76ers clash that featured the Vince Carter shot that haunted the city for decades.
With the Raptors now on the cusp of their first-ever NBA Finals appearance, Sportsnet caught up with Murray to reflect on those early years in Toronto, what it means to see his former team finally take the next step, and the decision facing fellow California native Leonard this summer.
(This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity)
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Sportsnet: To start off, as someone who was there for that first season, tell me what it’s like for you to see the Raptors finally make that jump and get to the Finals.
Tracy Murray: Well I’m sure everybody on the original team probably feels the same way — I mean, I know I feel like a proud papa. Because being there at the beginning, laying the foundation, doing the grunt work to gain interest in the city and interest all around Eastern Canada to support the Raptors and the vision that the Bitoves and Isiah Thomas had at the beginning — to be able to help go out there and execute that and gain that interest, and now to see where it’s gone, it’s just been so fun to see, so fun to watch it develop.
SN: I’m sure you saw the response from the fans, the city pouring out into the streets after that Game 6 win — what are you feeling for those fans, a lot of whom were there from Day 1?
Murray: It reminded me of beating the 72-10 Bulls team back in ’96. I mean, you’re talking about the city being on fire — we had 38,000 people because we were playing in the SkyDome at that time, so 38,000 people in there spilling out onto the streets, just celebrating the whole time. Horns honking, just a feeling of euphoria all over the city, and that’s what’s going on right now with the Raptors being in the Finals.
And it’s probably 10 times over, or 100 times over, because the fans have grown with the Raptors over the last 25 years.
SN: What was it like for you personally back then, coming to Toronto and getting used to the city, getting used to a fanbase that was just getting acquainted with the game?
Murray: You got to look at this in this way — we were a bunch of guys no one wanted, going into another country for a second opportunity. For a lot of us, this was it. So that second opportunity was needed to extend a lot of our careers, and the rookies, it was their first opportunity. And we knew no one in Toronto, except for Isiah because we played against him, some of us younger guys and veterans, because he had just recently retired. So, we were more of a family at the beginning. No one really had families — they didn’t have kids and wives, really. We all did everything together.
… I think the original owners, the Bitoves, just created a family environment there. And when you have that type of environment, especially being so far from home and out of the country, you move together as one, you do everything hard, you do everything together. It creates that same chemistry on the court. We had each other’s backs. We worked hard in practice, we brought it out to the floor and executed during the games the same thing. Even though we lost a lot of games, we were very successful for an expansion team.
And you look at off the court, the things we had to do, it wasn’t just success on the court, it was success off the court. We had to spread awareness, and spread Raptor basketball all over Eastern Canada. There would be some times we’d be dead tired coming out of practice, but, ‘Let’s go, alright … we’re going to Barrie, or we’re going to Niagara Falls, or we’re going up to Montreal.’
I mean, this is what we did that first year to spread awareness of the Toronto Raptors and what they were trying to do.
SN: What had changed when you came back a few years later, seeing the city finally get a taste of playoff basketball, winning a series, finally getting rewarded for the foundation you guys had laid?
Murray: Well, the difference was there was new ownership, so they ran things differently. It was less of a family environment, but Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, they had experience at running a pro organization with the Maple Leafs, of course. So, they made the necessary moves to jump to that next level, and that’s what we did.
They went out and got Vince Carter, and we rode that Vince Carter wave for a second. After Vince they went and got Chris Bosh, and they rode that wave for a second, and then they had the DeMar and the K-Low era, and now you have Kawhi and K-Low. So, you saw the organization over 25 years, starting with Damon Stoudamire as the draft pick and the rookie of the year, and then you go get Tracy McGrady and Marcus Camby — you just saw the slight growth.
Philadelphia talks about The Process, right. That was a 25-year process for the Raptors. And it’s a more difficult process than Philadelphia, because the Raptors, being in Canada, there’s the taxes that’s a problem for most people, when it comes to keeping your superstars. You don’t see superstars running away from Philadelphia, you know. Because they’re used to a certain amount of taxes that’s being taxed here in the States. But it’s a lot up there in Canada, and the guys were not used to missing that much money out of their cheques. So that’s what the problem was with keeping a major superstar, and hopefully that’s not the case with Kawhi, because you see the city really opening up and showing love to him.
He’s been offered free meals the rest of his life, him and his family, all over the place. Somebody provided a condo for him and his family to stay in while they’re there, rent-free. You know, the city has come out and they’re offering all kinds of things for him to stay. So they’re showing him a tremendous amount of love.
And it’s kind of hard to leave once they start pouring out everything that they’re pouring out for him in the city. I hope he stays, and I hope he can attract another free agent.
SN: How do you think the perception of the team has changed over the course of that journey — from those early days, but even in just the last few years, and this year especially. Around the league and in the States, how do you think people view the Raptors now compared to back then?
Murray: Well at the beginning, we weren’t expected to win. Guys went out and played hard — you’re gaining the interest of the fans. As the organization kept growing and you got to the Vince Carter era, now you’re expected to win. It’s a different type of pressure … By the time it got to DeMar and K-Low, there’s been so many ups and downs, peaks and valleys, triumphs and disappointments, you know, now the pressure is really on these guys to go further than a certain point in the playoffs. And I think it wore on the guys.
… And now they’ve jumped that next level that the Raptors have been fighting to get to the last 25 years. Now they’re in the Finals.
My thing now is, don’t be happy to be there. You never know if you’re going to get back. You know, I thought I was going to go back after that championship year with Houston my third year in the league. I thought I was going to go back — I never made it back to the Finals. So now you have to take care of business while you’re there, because you never know if you’re going to go back.
SN: Given the history you have with this team, what’s it been like to see what Kawhi has done for this city, for the fans to be able to have a player who’s really one of the elite guys in the world. What do you think is going into that decision for him, in terms of whether he stays or goes?
Murray: He has a tough decision. I mean, I’m happy for Kawhi, because Kawhi is from my area, in California. He’s from my area, so first and foremost, I’m very happy for him, being a local guy. And No. 2, he’s doing it in an area where, you know, it’s my favourite place I played in. So, I’m happy for the city, happy for him, happy for the organization.
With that being said, it’s a very difficult decision, unless he has a clear-cut decision made already. Toronto’s trying to make that decision hard to make — he’s going to get a max contract, clearly. But he’s not going to get as much as all the other players around the league because of the taxes, so now you’re seeing the city pouring themselves out and offering even more. That peer pressure right there is the same reason why Paul George didn’t go home to L.A. Now, let’s see if the same thing happens with Toronto and Kawhi staying.
SN: What about how he’s played during these playoffs — what do you think has made him so dominant throughout this run?
Murray: He’s played awesome, because one thing I’m noticing with Kawhi, Kawhi is sticking to his game. It’s not the analytics, it’s not all of that. He’s sticking to his game, and what he wants to do. He’s very much a mid-range killer. Yes, he drops threes — the threes are to keep you honest so he can get to places where he’s really comfortable in isolations, which is in the mid-range.
He won the game against Philly in the mid-range with that fadeaway from the corner. He makes a living on pull-up jumpers right there at the elbow areas. And, if you don’t guard that, he gets all the way to the basket and dunks the basketball. So he’s utilizing the whole court, not just the three-point line or right at the basket like analytics say to do. He’s excelling in playing the game the right way.
SN: It’s been an amazing run and now they’ve got a pretty tough task ahead of them in the Finals — how do you see them faring against Golden State?
Murray: Well, as an analyst, my job is to analyze the games, and I thought — as much as I’m a Raptor and I support them 100 per cent — I thought they were going to lose to Milwaukee in seven games. And they took care of business in six. I always said, the series doesn’t get started until somebody wins on the road. And the Raptors won on the road, and that put the pressure, immediately, on Milwaukee.
So I just thought that the Raptors did a tremendous job of having the mental toughness and the fortitude to go in there and grab that victory in Milwaukee. … The closeout games are always harder, so I expected Milwaukee to give their best punch. But Toronto took care of business, they did what they were supposed to do.
That’s why you can never count out teams. You have to play the games. You can’t just pencil them in as world champions. You have to play.
SN: They’ve got to go through it, as you said, and we’ll see how it plays out. But as someone who saw those early days in Toronto, what would it mean to you if they could climb that mountain and get a championship — how would you feel for the city if that ends up happening?
Murray: Oh, I would feel so happy for the city, I would be so happy — it would mean the world to me to see that city have a championship, to see a parade down Yonge Street. For the city and that organization and those players — it’s a win for everybody that’s played in that organization.
