The Win Nobody Saw Coming

24 years later, my father still regrets missing Raptors history

Today is my parents 30th anniversary.

They've been happily married for a long time thanks in part to a decision my father made 24 years ago today.

At the time the Raptors were a 17-49 expansion franchise en route a 21-61 season. Aside from an opening night 94-79 victory over the New Jersey Nets — the Raptors first win in franchise history — that season has largely been forgotten. There is one other exception, though. It came on March 24, 1996, when 36, 131 fans packed the Skydome to see Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Bulls take on the lowly Raptors.

The Bulls were 60-7 at the time and about to start another championship three-peat with that season's MVP, Jordan, back from his brief baseball break.

That morning in 1996 my father got a call from a friend of his who had two courtside seats to see the game. My father had yet to see the Raptors and never seen Jordan in action. He knew it was a big game and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Jordan quite literally could have fallen into his lap on a layup.

"I called my wife and asked if it was OK if I could go," he said. "She said ‘no problem, if you want to go, no problem,’ and I thought about it."

He called some friends to see what they would do, looking for any way to justify going to the game, but ultimately he decided against it.

"I felt it wasn’t the right thing to do," he said. "The guilt would have haunted me.”

Had the Raptors had any chance to beat the Bulls, he said he might have gone to the game, but with the Bulls in town, this game was going to be a blowout.

Look at the lineups: The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and Bill Wellington, with Steve Kerr coming off the bench. On the other side, the Raptors had Damon Stoudamire, Tracy Murray, Oliver Miller, Carlos Rogers and a returning-from-injury Alvin Robertson.

The Raptors went up early and took a five-point lead into the second quarter. Robertson did a good job holding down Jordan early, but in the fourth quarter Jordan did what he always seemed to do.

With 31.8 seconds, he nailed a fadeaway with Robertson in his face to put the Bulls up 108-106.

"Alvin Robertson just shaking his head," Raptors colour commentator Leo Rautins says. "He was all over the man."

Murray responded with a layup to tie it up with 30.1 seconds to go.

The Bulls called a timeout then got the ball into Jordan's hands.

With 24 seconds on the clock, Jordan drove to the hoop with Murray and Miller converging to stop the unstoppable man. Jordan went up with a floater but Miller got a piece of it and the Raptors grabbed the rebound.

"Michael has a smile on his face, takes a look at the official, he wanted a foul," Rod Black says.

With 20 seconds to go Miller splits his free throws to give the Raptors a one-point lead.

Now it's winning time.

Jordan brings the ball up the court, dribbles past a screen and into the right corner where he fumbles the ball. Kerr picks it up, passes it to Pippen with five seconds to go. Pippen sends it back to Kerr who throws up a deep 3 with three seconds to go.

The ball bounces out to the right.

With time running down, Jordan collects the rebound, turns and fires.

Bucket.

"Yes!" Black yells. "But no!

"After the buzzer... and the Toronto Raptors have pulled it out. They've done it! The Toronto Raptors have done it! They have beaten Michael! They have beaten the Bulls! ... I haven't heard this place like this since the Blue Jays won the World Series."

The next day the Toronto Star ran the headline "Raptors win it — no Bull"

In the Chicago Tribune, Terry Armour wrote: "Somebody forgot to remind the Toronto Raptors that they're an expansion team. The Bulls are the ones on their way to a 70-win season."

Raptors coach Brendan Malone described the win as "euphoric."

"Euphoric is the word," Malone told reporters. "Look it up in the dictionary. E. What a great win."

For Raptors fans it was a miracle, but all my father could think about was the blown opportunity to see history.

"Damn," he said, reflecting on his decision not to go.

My father never got to see Jordan play in person and though he would eventually sit courtside at the Skydome, it wasn't the same.

“At the point where I’m celebrating my 30 anniversary, I don’t think it would have made a difference," he said.

Twenty-four years later he still regrets not going to see Jordan the night the Raptors did the unthinkable.