Hot-blooded basketball super guard

Chapter 226 Toronto Raptors

The North American continent, after thousands of years of ice and snow deposition, has formed the magnificent Wudalian Lake. On the land surrounded by the lake here, stands the northern part of the American continent - Toronto.

This city with four distinct seasons, under the blowing of Lake Ontario, has become a symbol of Canada.

In recent years, basketball has quietly risen in Toronto. This largest city in Canada has the only overseas team in the NBA—the Toronto Raptors.

Can you imagine that an NBA team in a city becomes the home team of a country?For all Canadian fans, this Raptors team belongs to their Toronto National Team.

For Toronto's new NBA team, their first dragon king is "Little Flying Squirrel" Damon Stoudemire, a point guard with a height of only 178, with his dexterous posture and excellent jumping , won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1996, and brought a new look to Toronto's basketball.

However, Little Flying Squirrel did not have a deep relationship with Toronto, and three years later, he left the cold northern land.

Subsequent Toronto finally ushered in their destined Prince Charming in 1998, Vince Carter.

This flying man from the big rice country brought his handsome man like a splash of ink and his spirituality like a star descending into the world from North Carolina to Toronto in the north, and let the fire of basketball start from Toronto and burn the whole of Canada.

In the 2000 slam dunk contest, he unbelievably staged a slam dunk that spanned the century. Even Michael Jordan, when he was young, would bow down to this young man's slam dunk.

"Let's go home" was the exclamation of people after Carter's shocking dunk in the slam dunk contest.

Carter has been the All-Star vote leader for four consecutive years in Toronto. He is the darling of all Canadians, and he is a city hero in Toronto.

In the elegant trapeze, he was no match for injuries. Carter was also tormented by illness and conflicts with the team management. He was sent to the Nets, ending his glorious years in Toronto.

As much as the expectation, the disappointment will be as great. The people of Toronto dedicated all their love to Carter and made him a superstar, but they were abandoned in exchange.When Carter returned to Toronto with the Nets, he was greeted with boos all over the sky. Vince Carter made Toronto people love and hate, and the city's darling eventually became a sinner.

He was traded to the Nets in 2004. After staying for 5 seasons, he was traded to the Magic in 2009, the Phoenix Suns in 2010, the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, and Carter came to the Memphis Grizzlies as a veteran in 2014. The month came to the Eagles again.

Carter was not happy during the wandering years. As one of the top four shooting guards, he still received due respect. As a veteran, he helped the team's rookies grow like a leader.

Have you ever remembered that in 2014, when the former UFO could not fly again and returned to Toronto as a veteran in a low-key and indifferent manner, the Canadian people dedicated the most enthusiastic applause and cheers to this eternal Canadian flying man .

At that time, Carter was in tears on the court, and scenes of the past came to his mind. The original agreement, the original dream, are no longer important, you are still the child we love the most.

From 1997 to 2014, the 17 years witnessed the love and hatred of a man, and also made the great mind of a city.

In 2020, Carter completed his last dance in Atlanta. On June 2020, 6, Carter announced his official retirement. He did not start his retirement tour like Kobe did, accepting cheers and applause, and did not leave in a high-profile way like Wade. He left quietly, and an era called the Big Four shooting guards ended together.

Time is a sharp edge that catches people off guard, and time is a journey that never returns.The hurried boy at that time, looking back, his temples were already gray.If you are not old, youth will not fade away.Carter used his stubbornness to stick to the last note of our youth song.

When Carter left the Raptors, the team also ushered in the third-generation Dragon King, Chris Bosh, a talented power forward who led the Raptors to the playoffs twice, but was still unable to break through the first round.

In 2010, Bosh was summoned by James and left for Miami. The Raptors, who had just improved, fell into the trough of reconstruction again.

The experience of the Raptors is just like the city of Toronto, with ups and downs, only lamenting the injustice of fate, but the gloomy years will eventually pass, and the Toronto Raptors ushered in their new era of Dragon King-DeMar- DeRozan.

It is said that DeRozan is the fourth generation dragon king of the Raptors!

A young, hopeful and energetic Raptors team was born. This team has DeRozan, Lowry, Valanciunas and others. They lead the Raptors with gorgeous style and outstanding personal ability. Rising rapidly in the cold north.

This new era of Raptors shoulders the expectations of all Canadians and sends out the roar of ancient dragons.

In the 2017-2018 season, under the leadership of Coach Casey, the Raptors' double guns in the backcourt, Lowry and DeRozan, also known as the garbage brothers, were unstoppable. They helped the Raptors reach the top of the Eastern Conference with a record of 59 wins and 23 losses. First, created the best record in team history.

On July 2018, 7, the Raptors management sent their new dragon king to San Antonio in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, who has already played his worth.

With the arrival of Leonard and Danny Green, the Raptors' lineup has also changed, gathering Lowry, Danny Green, Leonard, Valanciunas, Siakam, Mark- Gasol, Van Fleet, Ibaka, Jeremy Lin and others.

In 2019, under the performance of Lowry, Siakam and Leonard, the Raptors defeated Antetokounmpo's Bucks in the Eastern Conference 4-2 and reached the finals. The opponent has entered the finals stage for five consecutive years The Golden State Warriors, their outstanding performance, prevented the Warriors from three consecutive championships, and also won the first championship in team history for the Raptors.

The Toronto people won their championship. They thought the team would continue to be brilliant. Unexpectedly, the winning lineup fell apart. Leonard went to the Clippers, Danny Green went to the Lakers, and Jeremy Lin was left unattended and eventually went to the CBA.

The main force to win the championship, the Finals MVP has left. When people thought that the Raptors would fall from the altar to the bottom, they have been ranked second in the East since the 2020 season. Against Antetokounmpo's Bucks, but the Toronto people became patient, and they gave this young Raptors more time to grow.

From the perspective of hindsight, the Raptors' trade is still profitable. They exchanged DeRozan and Bolter for Kawhi and Danny Green, thus winning the first championship. Although the two left the team later, the Raptors The team not only won the championship, but its strength has not been affected much.

For DeRozan, it seems that it is not so easy to accept. When he came to the Spurs, he did not adapt to his style of play, his personal ability was completely suppressed, he could not be released, and he did not win the championship.The current situation is very unfavorable to him, and the transaction is a matter of time.

DeRozan: I am the most tragic one!
(End of this chapter)