1995–96 Toronto Raptors season

The 1995–96 Toronto Raptors season was the inaugural season for the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Raptors, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, became expansion teams in the NBA during the 1995–96 season, and were the first teams in the league (or its predecessor the Basketball Association of America), to play in Canada since the 1946–47 Toronto Huskies.^[2][3][4] Retired All-Star point guard, and former Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas became the team's General Manager.^[5][6][7] The Raptors revealed a new primary logo, adding purple, red, black and silver to their color scheme; the primary logo featured a red dinosaur in a white uniform, dribbling a silver basketball in front of a black and purple circle featuring the city and team name.^[8] The team also revealed new white home uniforms, and purple road uniforms; both uniforms featured black and silver zig-zag pinstripes, and the team's primary logo of a red dinosaur on the front of their jerseys.^[9][10] The Raptors played their home games at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was also home to the MLB's Toronto Blue Jays.

In the 1995 NBA expansion draft, the Raptors selected veteran players like B.J. Armstrong, Oliver Miller, Willie Anderson, Tony Massenburg, Ed Pinckney, Žan Tabak, Acie Earl and John Salley.^[11][12][13] However, Armstrong refused to play for the Raptors, and was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for second-year forward Carlos Rogers and Victor Alexander.^[14][15][16] The team also signed free agents, former All-Star guard Alvin Robertson,^[17][18][19] and three-point specialist Tracy Murray.^[20][21] The Raptors received the seventh overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected point guard Damon Stoudamire from the University of Arizona,^[22][23][24] and also hired Brendan Malone as their first ever head coach.^[25][26]

The Raptors made their NBA regular season debut on November 3, 1995, in which the team defeated the New Jersey Nets at the SkyDome by a score of 94–79; Robertson led the Raptors with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.^[27][28][29] However, the team posted a seven-game losing streak afterwards, and later on held a 13–34 record at the All-Star break.^[30] At mid-season, the Raptors traded Anderson, and Alexander to the New York Knicks in exchange for Doug Christie,^[31][32][33] and then traded Massenburg, and Pinckney to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for second-year forward Sharone Wright.^[34][35][36] Meanwhile, Salley was released to free agency, and later on signed with the Chicago Bulls.^[37][38] The team posted another seven-game losing streak in February, and lost 12 of their final 15 games of the season. The Raptors finished their inaugural season in last place in the Central Division with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses.^[39]

Stoudamire averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, contributed 133 three-point field goals, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.^[40][41][42] In addition, Wright averaged 16.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in eleven games after the trade, while Murray contributed 16.2 points per game, and led the Raptors with 151 three-point field goals, Miller provided the team with 12.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, Christie contributed 10.1 points and 1.8 steals per game in 32 games, and Robertson averaged 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Off the bench, Tabak averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while Rogers provided with 7.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, and Earl contributed 7.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.^[43]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Stoudamire was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference Rookie team.^[44] Stoudamire scored 19 points along with 11 assists and 4 steals, and was named the Rookie Game's Most Valuable Player, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 94–92.^[45][46][47] Meanwhile, before the mid-season trade, Christie participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest while playing for the Knicks.^[44][48] Murray finished tied in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[49]

The Raptors finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 950,330 at the SkyDome during the regular season.^[43][50] Following the season, Malone was fired as head coach after only one season with the Raptors,^[51][52][53] while Murray signed as a free agent with the Washington Bullets,^[54][55][56] Miller signed with the Dallas Mavericks,^[57][58] and Robertson retired after ten seasons in the NBA.

One notable highlight of the inaugural season occurred on March 24, 1996, in which the Raptors defeated the Bulls at the SkyDome by a score of 109–108, in front of 36,131 fans in attendance. Three players posted double-doubles, as Stoudamire finished with 30 points and 11 assists, and also made 6 out of 8 three-point field-goal attempts, while Murray added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Miller contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds. All-Star guard Michael Jordan led the Bulls with 36 points; the Bulls went on to finish with a league-best 72–10 record.^[59][60][61]

The Raptors' new primary logo would remain in use until 2008, where the team changed the background of the circle from purple to red, while the original logo with the dinosaur would last until 2015; the new pinstriped uniforms would remain in use until 1999.