Dwane Casey's tribute video draws roaring ovation in Toronto return

Seven seasons, 320 wins, multiple franchise records and a controversial firing later, former Raptors bench boss Dwane Casey was back in Toronto for the first time as an opposing coach.

The Detroit Pistons — the club which Casey inked a fresh five-year deal with in June — made their first visit of the season to Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday and, naturally, it was all about Casey’s return to the city that saw its greatest basketball triumphs — and heartbreaks — under his watch.

As expected, the team honoured their beloved former head coach with a touching tribute video after the game’s first timeout.

And, as also expected, the Toronto crowd went absolutely nuts while it reminisced on Casey’s monumental tenure with the Raptors. It rained applause for the winningest coach in franchise history before the man of the hour stepped onto the court for a brief moment to acknowledge the appreciative fans.

After leaving his assistant post with the Dallas Mavericks to take the reins in Toronto in 2011, Casey guided the team through a couple of losing seasons before the momentous turnaround began.

In 2013-14, Toronto posted 48 victories followed by a 49-win season. That set the table for the Raps to reel off three-straight 50-plus-win campaigns, including a franchise-high 59 W’s in 2017-18. He was also named NBA Coach Of the Year last season, but he couldn’t overcome a third straight embarrassing playoff defeat at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and was relieved of his duties last June.

Casey’s influence on Canadian basketball has reached far beyond Toronto and his legacy as a beloved basketball figure in the city and country is cemented, to be sure. The 61-year-old often talked about how much he loved living in Canada, and prior to the game Wednesday had some more kind words for the country he and his family embraced as their own.

“Tim Hortons. My son loves Timbits and thank God they have Timbits and Tim Hortons in Detroit because he wouldn’t be able to survive,” he said to a scrum of reporters.

“Just treating people right, doing right by people, being nice to people, being honest with people. All those things are positive Canadian norms and values that I hope my kids picked up and it rubbed off on me, too.”

Luckily for Casey, his wife Brenda and their two children, Detroit is only a hop, skip and jump away from Canadian soil.

And tonight confirmed just how welcome the Casey family will always be.

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