The Raptors’ 2016 season ended with a whimper, but that doesn’t mean the city won’t be excited when the team returns to the court against Chicago tonight. Here’s how they stayed happy, healthy, and well fed in the off-season.
DeMar DeRozan led his alma mater’s football team onto the field last month.
And he racked up highlights in the Drew League in Los Angeles:
The Drew is a mixture of competitive amateurs and professionals. DeRozan got a little heated during one game:
Here he is dunking on James Harden:
And on Skip Bayless:
He also hosted a bunch of lucky kids in British Columbia:
…where the Raptors trained during the off-season. That’s newly-acquired CJ Miles:
By the way, anyone looking for an antidote to the poisonous swamp water of Twitter should check out Miles on Instagram, where he posed for a baby announcement:
Professed his love for his wife:
Did pilates:
And got excited over dental surgery:
He and the missus appear to have spent some time in Hawaii:
Kyle Lowry went travelling, too—to South Africa:
And to Philadelphia, his hometown, where his foundation was giving out school supplies:
He also passed out food for (Canadian) Thanksgiving.
Jonas Valančiūnas had a terrible time in the fresh air and sun:
He played in the 2017 EuroBasket for Lithuania:
He also spent some time with a new family member:
And went fishing:
And showed off his sweet whip:
And he managed to squeeze in a quick visit with the president of Lithuania, who gave him an umbrella badge to commemorate his participation in a public safety campaign:
He also got a ceremonial jar of what appears to be honey:
Sports are weird. Welcome back, everybody!
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