The Raptors Have Unveiled New ‘Huskies’ And ‘Chinese New Year’ Jerseys

Raptors to don Huskies & Chinese New Year uniforms in 2016-17. #WeTheNorth

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— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) August 23, 2016

The Toronto Raptors have been around for just over 20 years, but that hardly summarizes the history of Canadian basketball. In 2016-17, the Raptors will wear some retro jerseys to pay homage to Toronto’s pre-dinosaur basketball culture, a Basketball Association of America franchise from the 1940s called the Toronto Huskies.

In addition, the team will strap on Chinese New Year jerseys at some point, as well:

One wonders if the Huskies wouldn’t be a better full-time name for the current professional Toronto hoopers, whose insignia moves further and further from actual depictions of raptors with every brand adjustment. At this point, the team’s uniforms are kin to the name that brought them into the league mostly just by way of color scheme, and the red-and-purple vibe that felt right in the ’90s hasn’t aged exactly like wine to this point.

Seeing the cool blue of these old/new duds is a breath of fresh air, and the sight of them makes one realize the stamp of NBA mediocrity that the purple-and-red scheme has come to signify feels unfitting to the contemporary Raptors, who came within two wins of the NBA Finals in 2015-16. These Huskies jerseys might become a banner flag for those looking to embrace the growing legitimacy of Canadian basketball.