Toronto Raptors affiliate Raptors 905 have been named the NBA G League’s franchise of the year for the 2019-20 season.
The annual award is given to “the G League team which best exemplifies three core pillars: Compete with Intensity, Lead with Integrity and Inspire Play.”
The Raptors 905 are entering their sixth season and have already graduated several players to the NBA, including Raptors stars Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell and Chris Boucher. They won the 2017 G League championship with Siakam named Finals MVP.
In 2019-20, the 905 saw an increase in attendance by 11 per cent on the heels of the Raptors winning the NBA championship. The team hosts a number of community-focused events celebrating a variety of groups including Welcome Toronto, Chinese New Year, Black History Month and International Women’s Day. On Dec. 5, 2019, the team hosted a Giants of Africa game at Scotiabank Arena which drew a crowd of 16,836, the largest crowd in the G League last season.
“Just as Raptors 905 develops phenomenal players, like Fred and Pascal and Norman and Chris on the court, they also develop fantastic people off the court. Raptors 905 is an investment in our franchise, but it’s also an investment in basketball in Canada, a way for us to support growth of the game,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said in a statement Tuesday.
“We said when Raptors 905 started that we intended to make this the best franchise in the G League, and we are really proud that we’ve been recognized for that.”
The 905 will begin play in the new Orlando bubble season on Wednesday against the Rio Grande Vipers.
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