Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Nick Nurse Says Danny Green Deserves a Proper Ring Ceremony, Hopefully in April
It's been two and a half years since Kawhi Leonard and company returned home from Oakland with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Nearly 800 days since the Toronto Raptors received their NBA Championship rings on opening night back in 2019. And yet, Danny Green still hasn't received his.
By now, it's become almost a joke.
Green's first post-championship matchup against Toronto came as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA's 2020 Orlando Bubble experience. That didn't seem like the right time to receive the ring.
His next opportunity came while the Raptors were down in Tampa last season and Green said he was ready to receive the ring, but the Raptors didn't have the ring with them and he ultimately decided it didn't feel right to do it without Raptors fans in attendance, he said on his Inside The Green Room podcast.
Fast forward to this season and just when everything seemed on track for Green to receive his ring in a packed Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Omicron variant hit and arena capacity was slashed to 50%.
"Canada is kind of shutting back down again," Green said on his podcast. "A lot of friends and family are getting COVID. A lot of them would get stuck at the border or get stuck in Canada if they do go. A lot of the people that wanted to be there to support aren't going to be able to go. A lot of fans won't be able to attend. So we kind of took a poll, talked to [the Raptors] to see if they wanted to postpone it and they said they would."
As if cursed by the basketball gods, Green then entered COVID-19 protocols and couldn't even return to Toronto to play the Raptors on Tuesday night.
While it's a shame it's taken so long for Green to receive his ring in proper fashion, Raptors coach Nick Nurse agreed that the 34-year-old guard deserves a special moment to celebrate all he did for the 2018-19 Raptors.
"6,000 fans wouldn't have been much of a reception for him tonight as it normally probably would be on any other circumstance," Nurse said. "So let's all hope that the next time they roll into town, he's healthy and our arena is full, so it's a proper [reception]. He certainly was a huge part of that team, really a tremendous glue guy and a tremendous locker room guy and a tremendous player, a winner. So, let's hope it's a big celebration when he does get it."
The next time Toronto hosts the 76ers will be on April 7, the third-last game of the season. Hopefully by then Scotiabank Arena will be back to full capacity and — knock on wood — Green will be healthy to play.
Further Reading
Undermanned Raptors dealt heartbreaking loss by 76ers
Nick Nurse: Goran Dragic isn't 'part of the plan' for the Raptors moving forward
