AI disclosure statement: Turboscribe was used for audio transcription
Listen to the whole story here:
“I feel like people have passion again. I just think the fans are much more excited compared to previous seasons,” long-time fan Sam Zeidenberg said after The Raptors brought home a win against the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena on opening night. Fans like Zeidenberg also got to witness the return of superstar forward Kawhi Leonard.
“I just feel like with Kawhi, it kind of brings the city more alive. I kind of felt like the last few years, people didn’t care as much about the Raptors,” Zeidenberg, a Raptors fan since he was 10, said.
Leonard was officially traded to the Raptors on Sept. 14 after the NBA put the trade on hold to investigate a salary cap circumvention by Leonard and his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard and the LA Clippers were found to have violated the rules and penalized. Despite this finding by the NBA, his return was met with excitement from fans feeling nostalgic about his first stint with the Raptors that saw them hoisting up the NBA championship in 2019.
Zeidenberg said he feels fans were fatigued in the years following the championship victory, with the Raptors missing the playoffs in four out of the seven seasons following 2019. Heading into this season, however, Zeidenberg feels the fan atmosphere is changing.
The level of excitement for this team is reflective of Leonard’s star power according to Craig Hyatt, an associate professor in sports management at Brock University. “So much of cheering is hope,” said Hyatt, referring to Leonard’s involvement in the 2019 championship and how it attracts returning viewers.
“Thinking logically, ‘oh Kawhi is back. He has what it takes to lead us to the promised land, I bet he’s going to do it again.’ All of a sudden I have hope. Whereas for the past three years the Raptors [fans] haven’t had much hope and that can do nothing but help attract new people to be Raptors fans.”
While some fans are ecstatic about the return of the 35-year-old superstar, others have met it with mixed emotions.
“I’m happy he’s back, but he is a little older now, right? He’s a little more injury prone, as we know. I think his wisdom and his leadership is going to prove how he can help Scottie [Barnes] and the young core get over the top, hopefully,” Matthew Vuong said.
Vuong is a graduate in the sport management program at Brock University and has been a Raptors fan for about 15 years. While Vuong is skeptical of Leonard’s ability to stay healthy, he does emphasize the importance of star level talent like Leonard.
“I think we never had that playoff personnel on our team that could just get us over the top. With DeRozan, all those years where we were struggling to get over the top, to get out of the East,” Vuong said. “Now I think that, with Kawhi having that experience of winning two championships and knowing what it takes to get there, I think that’s a really good motivation for the team.”
Leonard wasn’t the only addition the Raptors made in the off-season. In June, the Raptors selected Allen Graves with the 19th pick in the first round of the NBA draft. While initial fan reception of Graves wasn’t positive, fans quickly changed their tune, similar to Collin Murray-Boyles, Raptors sophomore forward who also wasn’t well received by fans at first.
“I thought that we were about to get a really high-level point guard prospect [in the draft] and then they called Allan Graves’ name, another forward. And he was nowhere near where I had projected drafting him at,” Julian Apolinario, co-head editor in chief for the Raptors HQ news outlet said. “I took a deep breath and I thought to myself, ‘well, I had the same reaction when we drafted Collin Murray-Boyles, and I was eating my words within two months.’ So I kind of forced myself to take on a bit more of a measured perspective when we drafted Graves.”
While some fans expect an NBA finals appearance, lifelong fan Ahmed Tabash hopes for an Eastern Conference Semi-Finals appearance.
“You got to get out of the first round guaranteed in the playoffs. Second round and see what can happen, maybe a couple of lucky bounces a little bit of luck, you never know what can happen,” Tabash said.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.
