Though there was initially some hope that the Toronto Raptors might return home for gameplay next year, the team recently shared the news that they would be sadly staying in Florida for 2020-2021 due to restrictions from the federal government.
The boys will be playing upcoming home games at Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena, not far from the Orlando bubble they resided in for weeks during this very strange season.
And, though fans north of the border are a little disappointed that players won't be hitting the Scotiabank Arena court anytime soon, they've also had a sense of humour about the situation, poking fun at the concept of the "Tampa Raptors" — and coming up with some pretty phenomenal logo and jersey mockups in the process.
One of these in particular, from local sports design specialist Luc Samanski, is particularly eye-catching.
Samanski — whose work you might remember from the fictitious Toronto Raccoons football team — posted his very official-looking rendering of a Tampa Raptors jersey to Instagram on Tuesday, complete with its aesthetically pleasing palette of classic Floridian pastel pink and blue, a Raptor in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, and a font mimicking that of the Raps' existing threads.
"I'm a huge Raptors fan, and my grandpa used to live in Florida and loved his pastels," Samanski said of the inspiration behind his latest piece. "And Florida has some very unique Americans, so I figured I'd give the Raptor grills and a face tattoo."
Being one of the best of the Tampa Raptors imaginings yet, the jersey has gotten quite a massive response, racking up thousands of likes and a ton of supportive comments in just few hours.
It was even shared by Sportsnet this afternoon.
These @Raptors x Tampa jersey mockups are quite something. 👀🤩
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 1, 2020
📸: @lucsdesign91 pic.twitter.com/2y30CYgU7x
Thankfully, all Tampa Bay Raptors jokes are just that, jokes, though some aren't taking too kindly to people referring to the team as the Tampa Bay Raptors.
As Toronto Mayor John Tory has aptly said, "They’re our Raptors, and Tampa Bay shouldn’t get any ideas in that regard."
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