Raptors to keep calling Tampa home for rest of season

The Toronto Raptors aren’t going back to Toronto this season.

Ongoing challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic and how that affects the process of crossing the border between the U.S. and Canada will keep the Raptors in their adopted Tampa, Florida, home for the remainder of the regular season, the team said Thursday.

The Raptors are 6-5 in their “home” building this season, Amalie Arena, which they’re sharing with the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa also has the reigning Super Bowl champion Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Rays played in the World Series last season.

“Florida has been really welcoming to us and we’re so grateful for the hospitality we’ve found in Tampa and at Amalie — we’re living in a city of champions, and we intend to carry on the tradition of winning for our new friends and fans here,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said. “But home is where the heart is, and our hearts are in Toronto. We think often of our fans, of our Scotiabank Arena family, and all those we are missing back home, and we can’t wait until we can all be together again.”

The decision is hardly unexpected given the state of the pandemic in the U.S. and Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that starting next week any nonessential travelers arriving in Canada by land will need to show a negative PCR-based COVID-19 test or face a fine if they don’t have one.

That wouldn’t be an issue for NBA teams; traveling parties are tested daily, players multiple times a day.

The bigger issue is logistics. The land border already remains closed to nonessential travelers who are not Canadian citizens; Canada requires those entering the country to isolate for 14 days, which wouldn’t be feasible for NBA teams, and the Canadian government has also strongly discouraged...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Raptors-to-keep-calling-Tampa-home-for-rest-of-15942821.php