Naismith Cup
{{Short description|Annual NBA exhibition game}}
{{Infobox sports league
| sport =Basketball
| founded ={{start date and years ago|1995}}
| country =Canada
| champion =Maccabi Tel Aviv
| folded ={{start date and years ago|2005}}
}}
The Naismith Cup was an annual pre-season National Basketball Association (NBA) exhibition game. From the 1995 season through 2000, it was played between the two Canadian NBA rivals, the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies, at neutral venues across Canada.{{cite news|title=Raptors romp over Grizzlies in annual Naismith Cup|work=Kitchener Record|date=October 19, 1999}} The cup was named after James Naismith, the Canadian inventor of basketball, and was originally created to raise money for Canada Basketball, similar to the Pearson Cup competition between Canada's Major League Baseball teams the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos (which have since relocated to Washington). Following the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis the cup was laid dead,{{cite news|title=Time for some bonding Mitchell; Team unity crucial for the stretch run|first=Dave|last=Feschuk|date=March 8, 2007 |work=Toronto Star}} though the Raptors continued the tradition of hosting neutral site pre-season games in Canadian cities under the NBA Canada Series name. The Raptors won the series against Vancouver 4–1.
Prior to the 2003 season, the cup was revived as an international match between the Raptors and a European team, played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. In 2003 the opponent was the Panathinaikos A.O. of Athens, Greece, while in 2004 the Benetton Treviso of Treviso, Italy visited Toronto.{{cite news|title=Lights out for Greek side; ACC goes dark at Raps' game with Panathinaikos Crowd of 17,749 watches visitors get trounced|last=Quinn|first=Jennifer|date=October 11, 2003|work=Toronto Star}} The final competition in 2005 saw the Raptors' only international loss, against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Tel Aviv, Israel.{{cite news|title=Homes isn't so sweet for Raptors|first=Robert|last=MacLeod|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=October 17, 2005|page=S3}} The current whereabouts of the Naismith Cup are unknown.{{cite web|url=https://theathletic.com/1976570/2020/08/07/as-the-raptors-and-grizzlies-prepare-for-a-throwback-where-is-the-naismith-cup/|title=As the Raptors and Grizzlies prepare for a throwback, where is the Naismith Cup?|publisher=The Athletic|date=2020|access-date=2020-08-07}}
Results
Other neutral site Raptors games and international opponents
In addition to the Naismith Cup games, the Raptors have played several other neutral site preseason games in Canadian cities. During their first two seasons of play (1995–1997), prior to the completion of construction on their new home the Air Canada Centre, the Raptors played three regular season games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sports/2013-04/18/c_132319610.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012210157/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sports/2013-04/18/c_132319610.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 12, 2013|title=Raptors wrap up season with best attendance in 4 years|date=2013-04-18|access-date=2013-10-05|agency=Xinhua|last=JIa|first=James}} The team also lost a preseason game to the Miami Heat 119–89 at Marine Midland Arena in nearby Buffalo, New York before 12,748 fans on 18 October 1996.{{cite news|title=Raptors suffer from Heat stroke with poor effort|last=Young|first=Chris|work=Toronto Star|date=1996-10-19}} A second game, against the New York Knicks, was scheduled for 15 October 1998 at the arena, but was cancelled due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout.{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BN&p_theme=bn&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF9B0A24A7A69F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Raptors-Knicks have date at Marine Midland Arena|date=1998-07-31|access-date=2013-10-07|work=Buffalo News}} The team has subsequently discussed the possibility of playing additional preseason and regular season games in Buffalo.{{cite web|url=https://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=242308|title=Raptors exploring playing pre-season games in Buffalo|publisher=The Sports Network|date=2008-07-02|access-date=2013-10-08}} The Buffalo Braves played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto from 1971 to 1975.{{cite news|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2004/11/03/699007.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131008062639/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2004/11/03/699007.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 8, 2013|title=The road was paved|date=2004-11-03|access-date=2013-10-08|newspaper=Toronto Sun|last=Buffery|first=Steve}} Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York hosted a Raptors pre-season 103-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006 before 9,429 fans.{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=261018005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103211209/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=261018005|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 3, 2006|title=Toronto 103, Cleveland 81|date=2006-10-18|access-date=2015-10-24|publisher=ESPN}} More recently, the team has participated in a number of games as part of the NBA Canada Series.
Since the end of the Naismith Cup, the Raptors have continued to play international opponents. They hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel again in 2006, Žalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania in 2007, CSKA Moscow of Russia in 2008, Real Madrid of Spain in 2012, and Maccabi Haifa of Israel in 2014, and have played away games against Lottomatica Roma of Italy and Real Madrid of Spain in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/global/games2013/all-time-international-game-list.html|title=History of the NBA Global Games|access-date=2014-08-07|publisher=National Basketball Association}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/raptors-announce-2014-preseason-schedule|title=Raptors Announce 2014 Preseason Schedule|date=2014-08-07|access-date=2014-08-07|publisher=Toronto Raptors}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/games/20141022/MACTOR/gameinfo.html|title=Maccabi Haifa at Raptors – October 22, 2014|publisher=National Basketball Association|date=2014-10-22|access-date=2014-10-25}} They hosted San Lorenzo de Almagro of Argentina during the 2016 preseason, and Melbourne United of Australia in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/gametracker/#/20181005/MELTOR/raptors/analysis|title=Melbourne United vs Toronto|access-date=2018-10-11|publisher=National Basketball Association}}
Toronto has also participated in NBA Global Games, playing a preseason game against the Boston Celtics in Rome, Italy in 2007, two regular season games against the New Jersey Nets in London, England in 2011, a regular season game in London against the Orlando Magic in 2016, and a preseason games against the Houston Rockets in Saitama, Japan in 2019.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/global/games2013/all-time-international-game-list.html|title=History of the NBA Global Games|access-date=2015-10-24|publisher=National Basketball Association}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{NBA vs FIBA}}
{{Toronto Raptors}}
{{Memphis Grizzlies}}