The NBA was established in 1946 and in doing so, brought basketball franchises to major cities throughout the United States.  In the 1980s the face of the NBA changed with players such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and basketball became an international phenomenon for the first time.  Realizing the growth of the NBA’s popularity, two franchises were brought to Canada in the 1990s.

On this day, November 3rd, in 1995, the Toronto Raptors played their first ever NBA game. The team was established two years prior and initially toyed with the idea of reusing the Huskies name from the city’s 1946 BAA team.  The name Raptors was eventually chosen, largely because of the popularity of the film Jurassic Park at the time.  In their first game, the Raptors were victorious over the New Jersey Nets, winning by a 15 point margin.  Unfortunately, the rest of the season would not go as well and the Raptors ended the season with a 21-61 record.

The Toronto Raptors would soon have a run as one of the East’s more popular franchises with the addition of superstar Vince Carter.  The franchise went on to win their first division title in 2006 behind center Chris Bosh.