The National Basketball Association is heading to Tampa — via Toronto.
What You Need To Know
- Raptors say COVID restrictions in Canada led to move
- The team will start its home schedule in Tampa
- Toronto won the NBA Championship in 2019
The Toronto Raptors confirmed Friday they will start their 2020-21 season in Tampa because of measures in Canada to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"The current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play, means that we begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida," Raptors President Masai Ujiri said in a statement.
Toronto won the NBA championship as recently as 2019.
The recently completed NBA postseason, which ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the title, was staged in Orlando in a "bubble" format.
No further details were immediately released, including how long the Tampa arrangement with the Raptors will last or how it might affect their schedule.
The Raptors normally play their home games at Scotiabank Arena, which opened for basketball in 1999 and also plays host to Totonto Maple Leafs hockey games.
The team went 53-19 in the shortened NBA season but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics.
In this week's NBA Draft, Toronto selected Malachi Flynn, a guard from San Diego State.