San Antonio Spurs star DeMar DeRozan made his long-awaited return to Toronto to face the Raptors, the team he played his first nine NBA seasons with. He got a loud ovation from Raptors fans as he came onto the court to warm up, and got an even louder, standing ovation from the Toronto faithful during the pre-game introductions.
Huge standing ovation for DeMar DeRozan. Pascal Siakam (and other Raptors) were clapping on the other side pic.twitter.com/8oNkkvgn4E
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) February 23, 2019
The first intro to DeMar… #Spurs #Raptors pic.twitter.com/VbtpHHrgEL
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) February 23, 2019
Led by DeRozan, the Raptors saw their most successful regular season in franchise history last year, finishing with a 59-23 record and getting home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. Additionally, the DeRozan-led Raptors also reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history during the 2015-16 season.
DeRozan was drafted with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft out of USC. Raptors fans watched his all-around game slowly develop, and after not being known as a passer for most of his career, averaged just under five assists per game while averaging career-highs in scoring.
More to come…