Francis Commey, Sports Reporter
Canada’s top two sports television networks are set to rerun the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 historic championship run.
With almost no live sports to televise in the near future because of the COVID-19 pandemic, sports fans will have to go back in time and watch the Raptors championship run.
The first game was rebroadcast on March 20 and the reruns would go on till April 12. The games can be watched on Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE or TSN every day at 8 p.m. ET.
The run that captured an entire country is set for 24 straight nights of Toronto Raptors championship-winning basketball.
Fans are ready to see Kawhi Leonard once more in a Raptors jersey (Leonard now plays for Clippers), Fred VanVleet’s playoff heroics and Pascal Siakam’s rise to stardom.
Lifelong Toronto Raptors’ fan Eric George said this is a cool surprise for people at home with nothing to do.
“I really can’t wait to re-watch it all and feel the excitement of us winning a championship with my eyes again, witnessing the championship while I am alive is something I always dreamed of,” George said.
The rebroadcasts will amuse not only the Raptors fans but all those who love the sport.
NBA fan and self-proclaimed die-hard LeBron James fan, Cameron Simpson said he’ll be tuning in the television for the first time in weeks.
“It’s great to see some sort of basketball on TV,“ he said.
“I’ll be sure to try and appreciate Raptors basketball as I get a second chance,” said Simpson who had missed the initial run.
The historic win for Toronto Raptors not only changed the way the American counter-parts think about the team but also the overall outlook toward Raptors players.
Humber Hawks men’s basketball assistant coach Chad Bewley said changes to Canadian basketball accelerate since the Raptors championship.
“It’s really encouraging to see the younger basketball players around the GTA be more intrigued by basketball after all of the success of the Raptors the past couple years, especially last year,” he said.
“It seems like there are just more and more basketball players every day,” Bewley said.
