The home win over the Clippers has put the Warriors in a good mood, but the rest of the trip is not easy, and the Warriors are about to embark on a week-long road trip.

The opponent in the first leg is the Toronto Raptors.

Since joining the league in 1995, the young Toronto Raptors have been through a long wait.

As a new force in the NBA's overseas expansion, the Raptors were not as fortunate as the Milwaukee Bucks, winning the championship trophy in their third year in the league.

On the contrary, they didn't even make it to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Raptors have finally made history in the past 20 years, but no one has told about the hardships and difficulties they have experienced.

In 1995, the Raptors entered the league, and the Raptors at that time were in ruins. They selected Damon Stoudemire, a guard from the University of Arizona, with the seventh pick in the first round of the 1995 draft.

Damon Stoudemire is a natural backcourt engine, and like the "flying squirrel" tattoo on his arm, Stoudemire flies like a flying squirrel on the pitch and can do anything.

Stoudemire quickly showed his talent during his rookie season, winning the Player of the Month award twice, and he continued his fine form throughout the season.

At the end of the season, Stoudemire handed over an All-Star level statistic of 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game, and was selected to the Rookie of the Year First Team as he wished, and won the title of "Rookie of the Year", and the flying squirrel also became the first player in Raptors history to be elected Rookie of the Year.

You must know that the opponents Stoudemire faced at that time were the famous champion Joe Smith, spring man Antonio Davis, scoring maniac Jerry Starkerhouse, and talented high school student Kevin Garnett.

While Stoudemire's stats were eye-catching, he couldn't bring victory to the young Raptors.

Throughout the 1995-96 season, the Raptors had a 21-61 record. However, beating the strong Chicago Bulls in the middle of the season still gave them a glimmer of hope for the future.

At the end of the season, the Raptors fired head coach Brandon Malone and signed Darrick Walker instead. At the same time, the poor record also gave the Raptors a 1996 first-round pick and a second-overall pick.

The 1996 draft was hailed as the famous "96 Golden Generation". The Raptors selected 2.11-meter talented rim protector Marcus Camby from the University of Massachusetts after the 76ers selected Allen Iverson.

Camby's experience in the "Milk Basket League" in his backyard made him cherish the sport of basketball as a child, and his mother kept him away from the court and practiced with homemade baskets in his backyard to protect him from injury.

Camby's fundamentals have become poor as a result, but his 2.29m reach and 2.11m height have him on the inside.

In his rookie season, Camby built a high wall on the inside of the Raptors, averaging 14.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

The Raptors' record has increased from 21 wins to 30 wins with Camby's help, and they play the role of a strong team finisher.

Whether it's Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Olajuwon's Rockets, or Tim Hardaway's Heat, Karl Malone's Jazz, they have all been defeated at the feet of the Raptors.

But these brilliant resumes weren't enough for the Raptors to make the playoffs.

In the summer of 1997, the Raptors selected talented high school swingman Tracy McGrady with the ninth pick in the first round of the draft.

If you look at it from the current point of view, the Raptors lineup at that time can be called a poor luxury, and the backcourt trident of Stoudemire, Doug Christie, and John Wallace can average 50 points per game.

In addition, the Raptors' bench also sat Chauncey Billups, who was regarded as a "parallel trader" at the time, Marcus Camby, who was not injured as a god, and McGrady, who was still young.

These three were all famous stars later.

In February 1998, the Raptors had a big reshuffle, sending away Damon Stoudemire and bringing in Chauncey Billups.

But Billups' poor shooting percentage sent him away the following summer, and the Raptors brought in two experienced veterans, Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis.

And, of course, the Raptors also made a nice blockbuster trade. They traded No. 4 pick Antoine Jamison for Canadian flyer Vince Carter from the Golden State Warriors.

In the first year of his career, Carter showed great individual offensive ability. Played in 50 games, averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.

In the end, Carter beat Paul Pierce and won the Rookie of the Year title with 95.8% of the vote.

Although the Raptors failed to make the playoffs, the 46% win rate handed over in the shortened season has set a record for the highest win rate since the Raptors were founded.

Coincidentally, the team's two rising stars, Maddie and Carter, are distant cousins, and the two become inseparable, even being ridiculed by their teammates as "conjoined babies". The two stick together on and off the pitch at all times, whether they are singing together or eating grilled pork chops, they can be seen giggling together.

Not only in life, Carter and Maddy's performance on the court is also becoming more and more tacit, and Raptors head coach Butch Carter will deliberately put the two on the court and let them play together.

However, the two occasionally have times when they are so indulgent that they forget about the existence of their teammates.

Maddie and Carter also participated in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the year that Carter went down in history.

It was also in this year with the Raptors that Carter and Maddy began to grow.

Carter became the league's top scorer that year, averaging 25.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

Maddie also said goodbye to the bench with an excellent performance, telling the media that he deserves more than 30 minutes of playing time, but the Raptors still want him to continue in the role of the team's sixth man, which has caused Maddie to contradict management.

When the Raptors put Maddy, Carter and starting swingman Christie on the court, opponents were always able to rely on misalignment to score points.

Eventually, after his first playoff trip to his career, Maddy left the Raptors for the Orlando Magic.

Carter and Maddie can only turn friends into enemies.

Years later, Carter, recalling his time with Maddie, said:

"I remember the last time I saw him on the court, he was already wearing a Pistons jersey, and he was standing across from me and didn't speak for a long time.

Towards the start of the game, he said, 'Brother, the NBA doesn't belong to us anymore.' ’

I smiled, or didn't belong for a long time. It's just that at this moment, I really want to ask him,

Brother, if you don't go, can we become the next pair of Jordan and Pippen now? Even if you're Jordan, I'm Pippen......"