The NBA season kicked off Wednesday morning (at least it was in Australia), and the defending champions, the Toronto Raptors, were home for the first game of the season, against the Zion-less New Orleans Pelicans. Zion Williamson is out for 6-8 weeks due to knee surgery.
The Raptors pulled off a thrilling 130-122 overtime win, Pascal Siakam and Fred Vanvleet led the way with 34 points each. Brandon Ingram had 22 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds for the Pelicans, and Josh Hart added another 15 points and 10 rebounds. But enough about the actual game.
So every new season, the defending champs open the season with a home game, in which they raise the championship banner and give out the rings.
The rings this year, rings that the Raptors called the "largest NBA championship ring [ever]", feature a 1.25-carat diamond on top of the championship trophy, and is the largest diamond in any professional sports ring. The front of the ring shows the Toronto skyline and Scotiabank Arena (Raptors' home stadium), along with the team's chevron shaped logo (I didn't know what a chevron was either).
The 74 diamonds in the Toronto skyline represent the team's 74 wins in the regular season and playoffs. Above the arena on the front of the ring are six diamonds representing "The Six," which Drake popularized as another reference for the city of Toronto.
Also on the rings are 16 rubies and the 16 jersey numbers of the players on the championship roster. Inside the ring, the championship logo is engraved above the Raptors' postseason record and a ruby is set inside a maple leaf.
One side of the ring features the player's name and number (eg Lowry 7). The opposite side features "World Champions 2019" above the Raptors' logo.
The banner is hung near the spot where Kawhi Leonard made the historic game 7 buzzer beater over Joel Embiid in the second round of the playoffs.
Drake and Nav Bhatia (Raptors' biggest superfan) also received rings. Drake also told some dude named Jason in Beverly Hills to make him another one, maybe just in case he didn't get one from the team I guess.
The president of the company who made the rings, Peter Kanis, said they started plans before the Finals were even over, and Kyle Lowry helped with the design once it was over.
"He became a very important person in the transition to the masterpiece we have today," Kanis said at halftime of the Pelican-Raptors game.
Lowry was also the one to initiate the countdown of the banner revealment, which involved Queen's "We Are the Champions" and inside fireworks. The banner includes the Raptors colors, red trim, a black middle and white lettering, with the championship trophy in between the phrases "Toronto Raptors" and "2019 World Champions".
"It's crazy," guard Fred VanVleet said after dropping his career high on 66% shooting from the field and 71% from beyond the arc. "They did a good job. It's the best one I've seen as far as championship rings. Have to figure out how to wear it. It's a little uncomfortable on my hands."
The Raptors play their next game on Saturday, October 26th at 8:30 am (ACST) against the Boston Celtics. Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and other players who left the Raptors this off season will get their rings when their teams play in Toronto.
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