The Raptors will make Tampa their temporary home.
A plan to have them start the 2020-21 NBA season with home games at Scotiabank Arena was dashed by the federal government on Friday, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, who were granted anonymity in order to speak freely before an official announcement.
The decision forced the team to find a new base in the United States in a hurry, with training camp less than two weeks away.
In a statement, Raptors president Masai Ujiri wrote: “The Raptors worked diligently with public health officials at the local, provincial and federal level to secure a plan that would permit us to play our 2020-21 season on home soil and on our home court at Scotiabank Arena. These conversations were productive, and we found strong support for the protocols we put forward. Ultimately, the current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play means that we will begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida.”
The Raptors had worked at finding a new location for months, even as they and the NBA tried to come up with medical protocols and public health safety measures that would have allowed them to play in Toronto. Tampa had been the most widely reported potential location for a while.
Time was of the essence. NBA camps are scheduled to open Dec. 1, and a truncated 72-game regular season starts Dec. 22.
The search encompassed a raft of issues.
“We’re trying to do what’s best for the organization,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said this week. “So you can kind of go down the line. You know, what is first and foremost? The players. What does the practice facility look like? What would be the accommodations around the medical facilities, the medical treatment? Obviously you need to have an arena that fits NBA standards. There’s a ton of broadcast issues. There’s health and safety. There’s availability for arena dates. There’s a ton of stuff there.”
And there are human needs, too.
“I think at some point we’re asking people here to uproot their lives and go to a place that, you know, they may potentially be away from their families for six to seven months,” Webster said.
The Raptors were adamant that their first choice all along was to play in Toronto. They felt plans made along with the NBA would satisfy health safety concerns, especially considering the league’s success with running a “bubble” playoff season in the summer at Disney World.
“We want to be in Toronto,” Webster said this week. “We want to play here, but we are also realistic about the timing and respectful of the protocols Public Health has to go through, so it’s a little bit of both. It doesn’t necessarily affect our operations. I think we all know we’ll run a basketball team and the 72 games will get played, but (not knowing where is) a drain on personal decisions and families, which always looms large in this industry.”
With files from Robert Benzie and Bruce Arthur
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