Thursday night’s clash between the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors was important for traditional reasons, as both teams continue to jockey for playoff position near the top of the Eastern Conference. However, there was a bit of history delivered before tip-off at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, as 76ers wing Danny Green received a championship ring in honor of his contributions during a strong tenure with the Raptors.
On the surface, there is nothing out of the ordinary about a player receiving a ring during a return to a city, but the wild part about this exchange was that it happened more than 1,000 days after the Raptors win the 2019 NBA title.
GOTTA SEE IT: 1,029 days after his final game for the Raptors, Danny Green finally receives his 2019 championship ring! 💍
Presented by @Charmin | #EnjoyTheGo pic.twitter.com/MqufvgS0jX
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 7, 2022
Green has played in 196 regular season games since leaving the Raptors, spending a season (and earning another ring) with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20 before joining the 76ers. Given that exceptionally long time period, it is quite strange that Green wouldn’t have his ring yet, but between the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA’s trip to the Orlando Bubble, and Toronto’s 2020-21 season in Tampa, the stars just perfectly aligned for him to go on a three-year journey before collecting his ring.
It’s not as if Green was the most prominent piece of the 2018-19 Raptors, but he was a significant contributor alongside Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and others. As such, it was cool to see Green finally have the change to accept this recognition in front of the Toronto fans and, if anything, it might even be more memorable after a long and winding road.
