1996–97 Toronto Raptors season

The 1996–97 NBA season was the Raptors' second season in the National Basketball Association.[1] The Raptors drafted Marcus Camby out of Massachusetts with the second overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and started their season with new head coach Darrell Walker. Veteran leadership was added to the team with the acquisitions of Walt Williams, Popeye Jones, Hubert Davis and John Long. At midseason, the team re-signed free agent Oliver Miller after a brief stint with the Dallas Mavericks. The Raptors finished last place in the Central Division with a 30–52 record, which was a nine-game improvement over their inaugural season. Second-year star Damon Stoudamire led the team averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 assists per game. Camby averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while being selected to the All-Rookie First Team. Following the season, Davis signed with the Dallas Mavericks and Long retired.

1996–97 Toronto Raptors season
Head coachDarrell Walker
OwnersJohn Bitove, Allan Slaight, Isiah Thomas
ArenaSkyDome
Copps Coliseum
Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record30–52 (.366)
PlaceDivision: 8th (Central)
Conference: 12th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionTSN, CKVR
RadioCFRB

Draft picks
Main article: 1996 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 2 Marcus Camby C/PF  United States UMass

Roster
Roster listing
Toronto Raptors roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PF 21 Camby, Marcus 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Massachusetts
SG 13 Christie, Doug 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Pepperdine
SG 44 Davis, Hubert  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 183 lb (83 kg) North Carolina
PF 54 Jones, Popeye 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Murray State
SF 32 Lewis, Martin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Seward County CC
SG 25 Long, John  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Detroit
C 2 Miller, Oliver 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Arkansas
SG 31 Respert, Shawn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Michigan State
PF 34 Rogers, Carlos 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Tennessee State
C 7 Rozier, Clifford 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Louisville
PF 24 Slater, Reggie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Wyoming
PG 20 Stoudamire, Damon 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 171 lb (78 kg) Arizona
C 3 Tabak, Žan  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Croatia
SF 42 Williams, Walt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 219 lb (99 kg) Maryland
C 4 Wright, Sharone 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Clemson
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Highs
  • November 1, 1996 – To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the NBA, the first game of the season was played between the Raptors and the New York Knicks. Both teams wore throwback uniforms to recognize the anniversary. The Raptors wore the jerseys of the Toronto Huskies. The reason the game was played in Toronto was to recognize that the first ever NBA game was played in Toronto. The final score was 107–99 for the Knicks.
  • November 8, 1996 – The Raptors pulled a huge upset by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 93–92. One of the game's highlights was Popeye Jones blocking a shot by Shaquille O'Neal.
  • December 8, 1996 – In a game against the defending NBA Champion Chicago Bulls, the Raptors pulled another upset by defeating the Bulls 97–89
  • February 25, 1997 – Versus the Denver Nuggets, the Raptors had their highest point total of the season. The final score was 124–122 for the Raptors.

Lows
  • January 15, 1997 – The Raptors suffer one of their worst losses of the season. It was at the hands of the defending Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics by a score of 122-78.

Season standings
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Chicago Bulls 6913.841–39–230–1124–4
x-Atlanta Hawks 5626.6831336–520–2117–11
x-Detroit Pistons 5428.6591530–1124–1717–11
x-Charlotte Hornets 5428.6591530–1124–1714–14
Cleveland Cavaliers 4240.5122725–1617–2413–15
Indiana Pacers 3943.4763021–2018–2311–17
Milwaukee Bucks 3349.4023620–2113–2810–18
Toronto Raptors 3052.3663918–2312–296–22
1996–97 NBA East standings
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Chicago Bulls6913.841–
2 y-Miami Heat6121.7448
3 x-New York Knicks5725.69512
4 x-Atlanta Hawks5626.68313
5 x-Detroit Pistons5428.65915
6 x-Charlotte Hornets5428.65915
7 x-Orlando Magic4537.54924
8 x-Washington Bullets4438.53725
9 Cleveland Cavaliers4240.51227
10 Indiana Pacers3943.47630
11 Milwaukee Bucks3349.40236
12 Toronto Raptors3052.36639
13 New Jersey Nets2656.31743
14 Philadelphia 76ers2260.26847
15 Boston Celtics1567.18354

Record vs. opponents
1996-97 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA TOR UTA VAN WAS
Atlanta —3–11–31–33–12–01–11–32–01–13–12–01–11–24–02–03–11–33–14–01–12–02–02–01–14–01–12–02–1
Boston 1–3—0–40–41–21–11–10–41–10–21–20–21–10–41–30–20–40–40–41–31–11–10–21–10–23–10–20–20–4
Charlotte 3–14–0—0–43–11–12–02–22–02–02–21–11–11–22–22–04–03–11–24–01–10–22–02–02–02–20–22–03–1
Chicago 3–14–04–0—3–12–02–03–12–01–14–02–01–12–24–02–03–12–23–04–02–02–02–02–02–03–11–12–02–1
Cleveland 1–32–11–31–3—2–01–12–21–10–23–12–01–10–42–22–04–01–32–23–01–11–12–00–20–23–11–12–01–3
Dallas 0–21–11–10–20–2—3–10–20–40–41–12–20–40–20–21–31–11–11–12–01–31–32–21–31–30–21–33–10–2
Denver 1–11–10–20–21–11–3—0–21–31–30–21–30–40–21–10–41–10–20–21–12–20–42–22–20–41–10–43–11–1
Detroit 3–14–02–21–32–22–02–0—2–01–13–12–01–10–43–12–04–01–22–22–10–21–11–12–01–13–11–12–04–0
Golden State 0–21–10–20–21–14–03–10–2—0–41–11–30–40–21–11–32–00–21–12–00–42–21–34–00–42–00–43–10–2
Houston 1–12–00–21–12–04–03–11–14–0—1–13–13–10–21–14–02–01–10–22–02–22–24–03–13–11–12–23–12–0
Indiana 1–32–12–20–41–31–12–01–31–11–1—2–01–11–32–22–02–21–31–33–01–11–11–11–11–14–00–22–01–3
L.A. Clippers 0–22–01–10–20–22–23–10–23–11–30–2—2–20–22–01–31–10–21–11–12–20–42–24–01–32–01–34–00–2
L.A. Lakers 1–11–11–11–11–14–04–01–14–01–31–12–2—1–12–03–12–01–11–12–04–01–34–02–23–11–11–34–02–0
Miami 2–14–02–12–24–02–02–04–02–02–03–12–01–1—4–01–13–11–32–23–12–01–12–02–00–23–10–22–03–1
Milwaukee 0–43–12–20–42–22–01–11–31–11–12–20–20–20–4—0–22–11–22–23–11–10–20–21–11–13–11–12–01–3
Minnesota 0–22–00–20–20–23–14–00–23–10–40–23–11–31–12–0—2–01–11–11–13–12–20–44–00–41–11–34–01–1
New Jersey 1–34–00–41–30–41–11–10–40–20–22–21–10–21–31–20–2—2–21–32–21–10–21–12–01–10–30–22–01–3
New York 3–14–01–32–23–11–12–02–12–01–13–12–01–13–12–11–12–2—3–13–21–11–12–02–00–23–01–12–04–0
Orlando 1–34–02–10–32–21–12–02–21–12–03–11–11–12–22–21–13–11–3—2–21–12–01–11–11–14–00–21–11–3
Philadelphia 0–43–10–40–40–30–21–11–20–20–20–31–10–21–31–31–12–22–32–2—1–11–10–21–10–21–30–22–01–3
Phoenix 1–11–11–10–21–13–12–22–04–02–21–12–20–40–21–11–31–11–11–11–1—1–34–03–12–20–21–32–21–1
Portland 0–21–12–00–21–13–14–01–12–22–21–14–03–11–12–02–22–01–10–21–13–1—2–24–01–30–22–24–00–2
Sacramento 0–22–00–20–20–22–22–21–13–10–41–12–20–40–22–04–01–10–21–12–00–42–2—3–11–31–10–44–00–2
San Antonio 0–21–10–20–22–03–12–20–20–41–31–10–42–20–21–10–40–20–21–11–11–30–41–3—0–41–11–31–30–2
Seattle 1–12–00–20–22–03–14–01–14–01–31–13–11–32–01–14–01–12–01–12–02–23–13–14–0—2–01–34–02–0
Toronto 0–41–32–21–31–32–01–11–30–21–10–40–21–11–31–31–13–00–30–43–12–02–01–11–10–2—1–11–12–2
Utah 1–12–02–01–11–13–14–01–14–02–22–03–13–12–01–13–12–01–12–02–03–12–24–03–13–11–1—4–02–0
Vancouver 0–22–00–20–20–21–31–30–21–31–30–20–40–40–20–20–40–20–21–10–22–20–40–43–10–41–10–4—1–1
Washington 1–24–01–31–23–12–01–10–42–00–23–12–00–21–33–11–13–10–43–13–11–12–02–02–00–22–20–21–1—

Game log
1996–97 game log
November: 4–10 (Home: 4–6; Road: 0–4)
December: 6–9 (Home: 5–2; Road: 1–7)
January: 5–9 (Home: 3–3; Road: 2–6)
February: 5–9 (Home: 2–4; Road: 3–5)
March: 6–10 (Home: 3–7; Road: 3–3)
April: 4–5 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–3)
1996–97 season schedule

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Benoit Benjamin 4311.0.417.000.7502.3.3.25.003.3
Marcus Camby 633830.1.482.143.6936.31.51.052.0614.8
Doug Christie 818138.6.417.384.7755.33.92.48.5614.5
Earl Cureton 905.1.375.000.3331.0.4.00.00.8
Hubert Davis 36017.3.402.229.7391.1.9.31.065.0
Popeye Jones 796130.6.480.077.8188.61.1.73.497.8
Martin Lewis 905.6.429.333.500.7.4.11.221.6
Brad Lohaus 607.5.267.286.0001.2.2.17.001.7
John Long 32011.6.393.353.8931.3.7.28.064.0
Oliver Miller* 19816.6.560.000.7693.81.5.68.686.0
Jimmy Oliver 4010.8.308.1671.0001.3.3.50.002.8
Shawn Respert* 27015.3.442.396.8441.21.2.74.075.6
Carlos Rogers 56324.9.525.379.6005.4.7.751.239.8
Clifford Rozier* 412917.9.457.000.5085.7.8.591.074.6
Reggie Slater 26015.6.550.000.5203.7.8.35.237.8
Damon Stoudamire 818140.9.401.355.8234.18.81.52.1620.2
Žan Tabak 13416.8.451.000.6903.81.1.46.856.5
Donald Whiteside 2719.6.327.333.733.41.3.41.002.2
Walt Williams 737336.3.427.400.7655.02.71.33.8516.4
Sharone Wright 602816.8.400.000.5113.1.5.25.836.5

* Statistics include only games with the Raptors

Award winners

References
  1. 1996-97 Toronto Raptors
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