Kansas City loses out on chance to host Toronto Raptors for 2020-21 season
It was probably a long shot, but Kansas City won’t serve as a temporary home for the Toronto Raptors in the 2020-21 NBA season.
On Friday, Raptors president Masai Ujiri announced the team will play in Tampa, Florida.
The Raptors had hoped to play in their home arena, but had been looking at other options including Tampa; Nashville, Tennessee; and Newark, New Jersey.
Political leaders in Kansas City presented the T-Mobile Center as an option to the NBA. Earlier this month, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas joined Missouri and Kansas lawmakers in co-signing a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Raptors owners making the case for Kansas City.
T-Mobile Center operators also wrote to Silver, noting the arena could host NBA games.
While the Raptors’ first option was staying in Toronto, the Canadian government denied the team’s request.
“An official familiar with the federal government’s decision told The Associated Press on Friday there is too much COVID-19 circulating in the United States to allow for cross-border travel that is not essential,” the AP reported.
So the Raptors went with Plan B, which is Tampa.
“The Raptors worked diligently with public health officials at the local, provincial and federal level to secure a plan that would permit us to play our 2020-21 season on home soil and on our home court at Scotiabank Arena,” Ujiri said in a statement the team shared on Twitter. “These conversations were productive, and we found strong support for the protocols we put forward. Ultimately, the current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play means that we will begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida.”
Playing in Tampa keeps the Raptors in the same time zone as the other teams in the Atlantic Division: New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.
