Raptors fan burns front office with DeMar DeRozan jersey video
By David Rouben
A Toronto Raptors fan continued the tradition of pretending to burn a player’s jersey to take shots at Masai Ujiri for trading DeMar DeRozan.
Every offseason, whenever a franchise player leaves, there’s always going to be videos surfacing of people burning their jerseys. It’s an outdated tradition, and one that should’ve ended after Cleveland Cavaliers fans burned LeBron James jerseys only to dust them off when he returned.
With the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard joining the Toronto Raptors, the two teams essentially swapped franchise players, with DeMar DeRozan going the other way. DeRozan is one of the most beloved athletes in the history of Toronto sports, and during his nine-year tenure, he firmly established himself as the best Raptors player of all time.
Despite his shortcomings, and his inconsistent playoff performances, it was always going to be hard for Raptors fans to say goodbye, even if it meant Leonard was coming the other way.
While they had the good sense not to burn DeRozan’s jersey, this fan carried on the newfound tradition of pretending to burn a jersey only to tell us how they really feel:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1019616908306518017
Reaction to the Leonard trade has been hugely divisive in Toronto. There’s a subsection of fans who know what he brings to the table when healthy. They recognize that he’s arguably the best player in the Eastern Conference now and could key a Finals run for the Raptors. But there’s another group of fans that don’t like the way they treated DeRozan, and are skeptical if Leonard is even healthy or will stay beyond this year. While this trade looks good now, it could easily deteriorate into another Isaiah Thomas situation once they have to conduct his physical.
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DeRozan himself had an ominous message on his Instagram story about how the Raptors sold him out quick for a little bit of nothing. Those who have remained fiercely loyal to DeRozan no doubt feel the same way. While the moves the Raptors have made this offseason signal a change is coming, and a willingness to move on from their current core, it’s easy to see why it would rub lots of fans the wrong way.
Check out our Fandom 250 rankings to find out where fans of the Toronto Raptors and other NBA teams ranked last year, and where they’ll fall in our 2018 rankings.