NBABy Jay Rigdon on

The Raptors are currently the NBA’s only Canadian team, but though the franchise history only dates back to 1995, the history of professional basketball in Toronto dates back much farther.

The Toronto Huskies were actually a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, which became the NBA. And not only that, they actually hosted the first game in league history, against the New York Knicks, in 1946. The team disbanded after just one season, but with the Knicks back in town, the Raptors are looking to honor that 70-year-old history by wearing some pretty sweet throwbacks:

And by changing up the court design:

And by giving away t-shirts to everyone in attendance:

That’s really cool, and frankly, it should be in the rotation going forward. History doesn’t just have to be honored on anniversaries ending in “0” or “5”. If the Pacers can have an alternate jersey inspired by the fictional Indiana basketball history of Hoosiers, then the Raptors can absolutely have one inspired by the real Toronto basketball history of the Huskies.

Also Huskies make a lot of sense as a Canadian team mascot.

So there’s that, too.

[h/t Bleacher Report]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.

View all posts by Jay Rigdon