Vancouver has been perfection for the Toronto Raptors

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Vancouver is pining for an NBA team. And if the Toronto Raptors were smart, they’d pull up stakes and relocate to the West Coast, the best coast.

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Why? Well, since 2010, the Raptors have played in Vancouver seven times — and won every single game. They took down the 2016 Golden State Warriors, who would go on to win their fifth dynasty-clinching league title. They beat Steve Nash AND Vince Carter in 2010, back when the Garage, a.k.a. GM Place, had just changed its name to Rogers Arena. They toppled Kings (2023, 2014) and Lob City Clippers (2015), and snuffed out the Blazers (2018).

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Next up: the Denver Nuggets.

Sure, all those games were pre-season — like the Oct. 6 date at Rogers Arena against Canadian Jamal Murray and perennial MVP contender Nikola Jokić — but a win is a win.

Tickets for the game will go on sale Aug. 27. Fans can register their interest in tickets and gain access to exclusive presale information by visiting NBA.com/CanadaSeries.

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“This will be the seventh time we’ve started our year with a pre-season game in Vancouver and we’re really excited to be back to tip off 2025-26,” said Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, whose team returns to Vancouver for the first time since 2023.

“We love the vibe, the city, the arena and especially the fans. Part of the experience is seeing the players on our young team realize how much support the Raptors have across Canada. It’s awesome — the realization that they play for a country, not just a city, is an important moment. It’s also really fun. We’re looking forward to being back.”

While Toronto held training camp in Vancouver in 2023, this time it will be at the University of Calgary for the first time in team history, starting Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Jack Simpson Gym. All those sessions are closed to the public, but the Raptors will hold a practice open to the public on Oct. 3.

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The game is part of the Canada Series, featuring NBA pre-season games in Canada, which officially got its name in 2012. But the NBA has had exhibition games in Canada since 1990, when the Indiana Pacers played three games against the Bullets and Rockets in St. John’s, Halifax and Kitchener.

Murray, the Nuggets superlative shooting guard, wasn’t born in Kitchener until seven years after that game.

“It’s always an honour and a pleasure to get to return home to play basketball in Canada,” said Murray. “I’m excited for the opportunity for myself and my team to face off against the Raptors in front of the basketball-hungry fans of Vancouver, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The Canada Series has seen 16 different teams playing 19 pre-season games — 14 of which featured the Raptors — in front of nearly 360,000 fans in six Canadian cities.

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Also part of the Canada Series was a 2019 game in Vancouver, where Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks downed freshly former Raptor Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers 102-87.

This pre-season, the Raptors travel to face the Kings in Sacramento on Oct. 8, host the Boston Celtics on Oct. 10 at Scotiabank Arena and before visiting the Wizards in Washington on Oct. 12. Toronto hits the road again to take on the Celtics in Boston on Oct. 15, then close out the pre-season at home against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 17.

The current roster features all-stars in Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, 2025 No. 9 overall pick Collin Murray-Boyles, and Canadians RJ Barrett and A.J. Lawson, whom have both represented Canada internationally.

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