Raptors Updates

“There’s no Phil Jackson without Michael Jordan. My Michael Jordan is Scottie Barnes.”

In a recent Serbian interview/podcast, Darko Rajaković had a tremendous amount of praise and respect for his franchise player, Scottie Barnes.

Darko described Scottie as a “young guy with a big heart. A great worker.” Darko says Scottie sees and plays basketball the way he envisions it himself.”

Darko says he’s really grateful for coaching a player like Scottie, and says he’s “one of the very, very rare players throughout the NBA.”

Lots of praise by the All-Star coach for his All-Star player. ❤️ 🫡 Scottietoohottie

[via. Aca Stojanović/YT , H/T: NBA Serbia ]

Mississauga’s own Dillon Brooks lists his position’s Mount Rushmore:

-Brandon Ingram
-Cooper Flagg
-Jalen “J-Dub” Williams
-Kawhi Leonard

How do we feel about these 4? 🤔

[via. NBA 2K League]

Caitlin Clark shows love for Toronto/Canada (other than the lack of air conditioning in the arena) 😭 🇨🇦:

“Well, maybe if Canada had air conditioning, that would be helpful. It’s a million degrees in here.” 😭

“It’s been great. The fans were great tonight. It’s really cool to see how much women’s basketball has grown.”

“Really fun for my first time in Canada, and certainly excited to come back.”

[ 🎥: ESPN ]

AJ Lawson on playing for the Toronto Raptors/playoff experience with the Raptors:

“Playing for the Raptors is crazy, ‘cause at the games, I’d be seeing my family, my friends, people that’s rooting for me. It’s super surreal. I can’t even explain how great it feels, to be playing for my city.” ❤️

“Playoffs this year, it was honestly crazy. It wasn’t my first time in the playoffs. It was my first time actually getting meaningful minutes in the playoffs.”

“Every second I was out there it was intense. It was high-level basketball.”

“It was super fun just to play in that atmosphere. To see all the crowds’ reactions, it was crazy.”

“I remember Game 1, coach’s calling my name, took off my warmup, about to get on, I was just thinking, ‘Yo, I’m really here. Let’s lock in.’”

“One of the first plays I’m on the court, I got a defensive stop, I drew a charge [on Donovan Mitchell]. From there, I just knew, ‘Oh yeah, let’s go, I’m here. Let’s do this.’”

“Just feeling that intensity on the court, knowing that I’m here, it was surreal. I know my parents were watching that home crowd, ‘cause we were on the road.”

“But yeah, it’s just a feeling I won’t ever forget.” ❤️

[via. AJ Lawson 🇨🇦🇯🇲 | 🎥: Reggie Williams ]