Toronto Raptors coming to Vancouver for first time since 2018

It’s no return of the Grizzlies, but we’ll take what we can get.

Canadian basketball fans here on the West Coast will be flooding Rogers Arena come October 8, when the country’s sole NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, will be in town to play an exhibition game. 

The Raptors, who won the 2019 NBA championship, are set to square off against the Sacramento Kings. The game kicks off their preseason schedule and marks the sixth time that they’ve played on a Vancouver court—though the last time was half a decade ago in 2018.

The Kings are no stranger to exhibition games in Vancouver, either; the team faced off against the Raptors in front of a sold-out Vancouver crowd back in 2014 (and lost 94 to 99). 

Those hoping to snag a seat to the rare event can try their luck when tickets go on sale to the public on August 25. Registration is available for presale tickets here. 

Following the Vancouver game, the Raptors will then head back to their homecourt of Toronto’s Sociabank Arena for an October 15 game vs. the Cairns Taipans from Australia’s National Basketball League; then it’s a trip to Chicago on October 17 to face off against Bulls; and finally, it’s back to Toronto for a matchup against the Washington Wizards on October 20. 

It has (somehow) been 22 years since the Grizzlies left Vancouver for the more southern pastures of Memphis back in 2001, but if the buzz about the return of the Raptors for even an exhibition game is any indication, it’s clear that our basketball hype didn’t leave with the team.