As we count down to 2020, TSN.ca looks back over some of the most interesting stories of 2019. They won't necessarily be the best of the year, per se, but memorable games, moments and events that are worthy of reflection.

On Saturday, it's 2019 in the NBA.

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Toronto comes out for the Raptors

The 2018-19 NBA playoffs served notice that the City of Toronto belonged to the Raptors. At least for one summer. 

Record numbers of fans stood in Jurassic Park to watch each playoff game and what seemed like the entire city spilled onto the streets after the final buzzer sounded as the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 to capture their first NBA Championship.

None of that hinted to the bedlam that would ensue at the championship victory parade.

Accurate numbers for an event of that magnitude are impossible to verify, but between two to three million people were estimated to have been at the parade.  That number represents over 35 per cent of GTA residents and close to eight per cent of Canada’s population.

The streets of Toronto were packed to the brim. The TTC reported a record breaking 2.7 million trips that required them to shut down three subway stations due to overcrowding. 

“The ground [was] shaking. It’s unbelievable. It’s hard to put into words,” said Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.

Organizers clearly did not fathom the scope of the event, leaving fans at the rally in Nathan Phillips Square trapped without water, shade or a video feed of the parade. Fans in the square waited three hours longer than advertised, as the sheer number of people along the parade route slowed the buses carrying the team to their final destination. 

Brad Ross, the city’s chief communications officer, put it best in regards to the delays. 

"Yes, it slowed things down significantly, but overall people were having a very good time,” said Ross in an interview with CBC. “And that was really the point of the entire day.” 

Point proven.

After a quarter-century of Raptors basketball, fans were finally given the opportunity to celebrate another major sports championship for the city of Toronto. It was a chaotic, exhilarating and, unfortunately at times, frustrating day for some people. 

But it’s one that the city will never forget. - Jonathan Chan

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D-Wade and Dirk call it a day 

The 2018-2019 NBA season was the last time that the league would see two prominent NBA superstars play for their respective teams - Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki announced that the season would be their last.

On Sept 18. 2018, Wade and the Miami Heat announced that they have agreed on a one-year contract in what would be his final season. Drafted fifth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft out of Marquette, Wade settled into the NBA establishing himself as a productive player, averaging 16.2 points per game while shooting .465from the field.  Wade helped the Heat post a 42-40 record to make the playoffs where they eventually lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semis.

It was a sign of things to come for Wade, who would go on to win three NBA titles, including claiming a Finals MVP in 2006.

During his farewell tour, the 13-time All-Star would hit a number of milestones, including becoming just the third player in NBA history to record 20,000 points, 5,000 assists, 4000 rebounds, 1500 rebounds, 800 blocks and 500 three-pointers. 

To mark his final campaign, commissioner Adam Silver named Wade as a special roster addition for the 2019 All-Star Game.

As part of his farewell tour, Wade would jersey swap with opposing players after each game. This tradition sparked controversy on some teams with teammates arguing who would be the one to swap with Wade.

On Apr 9., Wade played in his final home game in Miami, scoring 30 points against the 76ers. In his final career game the following night, Wade recorded his fifth career triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to cap off an incredible career.  

Over in the Western Conference, Nowitzki also played his final game, having officially announced his retirement during the Dallas Mavericks' final home game of the season. Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year career with the Mavs, an NBA record.

Originally taken by the Milwaukee Bucks with the ninth overall selection in the 1998 draft, Nowitzki would be sent to the Mavs in a multi-team draft night deal which also saw Victoria, BC's Steve Nash head to Dallas.

Nowitzki struggled in his lockout-shortened rookie season and even debated going back to Germany to continue playing for his hometown team. The Mavericks only won 19 of the 50 games that season and they missed the playoffs.

Nowitzki’s NBA fortunes would soon change thanks to new owner, Mark Cuban, who purchased the team in 1999. Nowitzki’s numbers drastically improved and the German forward did not look back.

Nowitzki finished his NBA career with one NBA championship, one NBA Finals MVP, 14 All-Star selections and the 2007 NBA MVP Award. He is ranked sixth all-time in scoring and fifth all-time in defensive rebounds. 

Like Wade, Nowitzki was also named to the All-Star team as a special addition.

In the final home game of his career, Nowitzki scored 30 points in a win over the Phoenix Suns, before officially announcing his retirement. The next night in the final game of his career, Nowitzki recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. - Luke Simard

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Siakam the superstar

Leave it to the league’s Most Improved Player to make the Toronto Raptors fan base forget about the “fun guy” who brought the franchise their first NBA Championship. 

Four years ago, Pascal Siakam started 38 games for the Raptors as a rookie and looked the part of someone whose first basketball experience was five years prior, averaging just 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. 

In February of that 2016-17 rookie year, the organization decided it was best for Siakam to develop away from the speed of the NBA and assigned him to the newly created Raptors 905 D-League (now G-League) team.

Siakam was named the 2017 D-League Finals MVP as he led the team to their first championship and his career has only skyrocketed from there.

Over the next three years, Siakam went from raw rookie to productive bench contributor to winning the MIP as, arguably, the second best player on a championship team. Each season, the Cameroonian added a new wrinkle to his game and made obvious improvements. 

Siakam is now the undisputed first-option for the Raptors after taking another monumental leap in his development. Through 27 games, the 25-year old is posting career highs in points, rebounds, assists, three pointers made, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. 

To put into perspective how much Siakam has grown: his 25.1 points per game is 11th in the league, ahead of Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Russell Westbrook. 

Despite his exponential rate of improvement, Nick Nurse, Siakam’s coach for both his D-League and NBA championships, says the Raptors’ leading scorer is just scratching the surface. 

“I still think he’s maybe 18 months away from being really deadly out there,” Nurse said in an interview with Louis Zatzman of Raptors Republic. “Maybe I’m wrong, he seems to cut all my timelines in about half or more than that sometimes.”

Siakam’s development this season has been so drastic that there is chatter around the NBA that the New Mexico State alumni could conceivably win a second straight Most Improved Player award, something that has never happened in NBA history. 

A poll done by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps asked 101 media members for their MVP votes with a quarter of the 2019-20 season in the books. 

With 52 points, Siakam finished fifth in voting, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Luka Doncic and James Harden. 

Siakam has done incredible things in his short career with seemingly no limits to where his talent and work ethic can take him, but as the year closes, Siakam remains out of action with a groin issue. His return date is unknown. - Jonathan Chan

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Harden's point streak

James Harden’s 50-point triple-double to lead the Houston Rockets to a 126-111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 13, 2018, was the start of something special heading into 2019.

If there’s one thing we know about Harden, it’s that he can score. But the 30-year-old superstar reached a new level this year, accomplishing something that basketball greats such as LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have never done.

Scoring 30 points isn’t easy, scoring 30 points in back-to-back games is even harder, but Harden took it one step further – doing it in 32 consecutive games. Harden’s streak is the second longest in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 65-game streak.

Harden’s run lasted 70 days, and he was on another level, averaging 41.1 points per game. Only Chamberlain (515 games) and Elgin Baylor (33) have averaged at least 40 points for more than 32 games.

During the 32 games, Harden took 15.3 three-pointers and 12.8 free throws per game, while shooting .441 per cent from the field and .371 per cent from beyond the arc.

Arguably his best game of the streak came against the New York Knicks on Jan. 23 when he scored a career-high 61 points on 17-38 shooting while adding 22 made free throws in a 114–110 win.

During the run, he also had 7.4 assists and 7.6 rebounds per game, leading the Rockets to a 21-11 record.

Harden had two close calls, scoring exactly 30 points twice, the first one coming in Game 25 of the streak and the second coming in Game 32.

Only two other players – Kobe Bryant (10) in 2012, and Kevin Durant (12) in 2014 – had a 30-point streak of 10 games or more this decade.

On Feb. 25, 2019, Harden’s streak came to an end when he fell two points shy of the 30-point mark. Harden shot just 7-21 from the field in the Rockets win over the Atlanta Hawks, and he failed to make a three-pointer, going 0-10, in the only game that season he didn’t make a three.

The seven-time all-star went on to average 36.1 points per game, and finished second in MVP voting for the 2018-19 season. -- Luke Bellus

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The Warriors fall apart...literally

All pro sports dynasties end, one way or another.

The 1990 Stanley Cup was the last hurrah for an Edmonton Oilers team that had won five titles in seven years, had traded Wayne Gretzky and were just about to move on from Mark Messier. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two Champions League crowns and never finished lower than third in the table. Since his departure in 2013, the team hasn’t come close to Prem glory.

The Golden State Warriors’ run of five straight NBA Finals berths is the latest dynastic run to fall apart, but that’s what it did quite literally. While the Chicago Bulls’ dominance in the 1990s ended when Michael Jordan retired again and Scottie Pippen got traded, the Dubs’ streak came to a halt with an unprecedented string of injuries that helped derail their chances at a fourth title in five years and ensured a return to the lottery for the first time since 2012.

The Warriors finished the 2018-19 season atop the Western Conference at 57-25 and got the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. Doc Rivers’ team was able to stretch the defending champions to six games before bowing out, but the win came at a considerable cost to the Warriors – centre DeMarcus Cousins, who was limited to only 30 regular season games recovering from an Achilles tear, went down in Game 2 with a quad tear. The injury would put Boogie on the shelf until the Finals.

The walking wounded would multiply in the next round against the rival Houston Rockets. Though he wouldn’t miss any time, Steph Curry would incur a dislocated finger that limited his shooting. More crucially, Kevin Durant picked up a calf strain late in the third quarter of Game 5 that would take him out of the playoffs until the Finals. The Rockets were unable to take advantage of the undermanned Warriors and were taken out in six games.

Mercifully, the Dubs rolled over the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals, sweeping their way to the Finals without losing anybody else in the process. But the injury bug would return in time for the Finals in a big way.

After four straight seasons of meeting up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, the Toronto Raptors emerged as the new challengers from the East. The game plan for the Dubs would be to keep the series close until Durant returned. The plan would hit a number of snags.

While Cousins would return from injury, Kevon Looney incurred a fracture in his collarbone in Game 2 and somehow managed to only miss Game 3, despite being in visible discomfort for the rest of the series. Late in that same Game 2, Klay Thompson strained his left knee, causing him to also miss Game 3. He would return with a vengeance, including a 26-point performance in Game 5 to help stave off elimination. But it would get worse before it got better for Thompson, who tore his ACL in Game 6 and remains out to this day. Out until at least the All-Star break, the likelihood of the five-time All-Star missing the entirety of the 2019-20 season remains high.

And then there was Durant. After a nine-game absence, Durant would return to the lineup in Game 5 and immediately became a problem for the Raptors, dropping 11 in the opening quarter. The charmed return wouldn’t last, though. Getting tangled up with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Serge Ibaka in search of a loose ball early in the second quarter, Durant would tear his Achilles tendon, ending his playoffs and his Warriors tenure. The Warriors would fall to the Raptors in six games and then lose Durant in free agency to the Brooklyn Nets. Still, Durant remains on the shelf and will not make his Nets debut until next season thanks to the injury.

The 2019-20 season began for the Warriors much like the playoffs ended – riddled with injuries. With Durant gone and Thompson out, the injury bug bit Curry and hard. In an Oct. 30 game against the Phoenix Suns, Curry collided with Aron Baynes as the big man was looking to draw a foul. Baynes fell on top of Curry’s hand, breaking it and sidelining him for at least three months. In early December, the Warriors announced that Curry underwent a second surgery on the injured hand. While he expects to return in the spring, the possibility that Curry doesn’t see the court again this season is a real one.

With a mostly new roster from last year and season-altering (if not –ending) injuries to their two superstars, the Warriors end 2019 languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference. But there could be light at the end of that tunnel in the same way there was for the 1997 San Antonio Spurs.

Coming off of a division title and a 59-win season, the Spurs lost David Robinson for all but six games with a myriad of injuries, while Chuck Person missed the entire season with a back injury. A title contender the year before, the Spurs won just 20 games and finished 13th in the Western Conference. The Spurs would go on to win the lottery and take Wake Forest centre Tim Duncan with the top pick in that June’s NBA Draft. He and the Spurs both turned out alright.

Right now, the Warriors can only hope for the best. - Mike Beauvais

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Canada fails to show up at the FIBA World Cup

The Canadian men’s basketball program has reached its pinnacle. Over the last 10 years, there have been 10 Canadians selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Seven of those were lottery picks. 

The Raptors’ NBA title victory in June launched the sport to heights it had never seen in this country. Coming off that experience, basketball fans expected Canada’s FIBA World Cup 2019 team to be filled with the country’s best in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since 2000. 

Unfortunately, the 12-man team featured just two NBA players, veteran Cory Joseph and Orlando Magic forward Khem Birch. 

National team vet Kelly Olynyk committed to the team, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury he suffered during the tournament’s exhibition schedule. 

Even with Raptors head coach Nick Nurse taking the reigns of the program, most Canadian players including Jamal Murray, R.J. Barrett, Andrew Wiggins, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and even national team mainstay Tristan Thompson did not make the trip to China, instead choosing to focus on the upcoming NBA season. 

Not surprisingly, the team was not competitive, finishing 21st out of 32 teams and failing to qualify for Tokyo 2020.  

There was plenty of backlash towards the no-shows, criticizing them for lack of commitment, heart and national pride. The program had seemingly hit rock-bottom, considering how high hopes had been a few weeks prior. 

Despite the rough patch, Nurse has doubled-down on recruitment efforts and is excited for the future of the program. 

“I see it as a really interesting, unique time in Canada Basketball,” Nurse told Lori Ewing of The Canadian Press. “The talent’s really pouring out; the people are interested all over the country in basketball. I think you could so something special with a group of guys who stick together for five or six years.” 

The disappointing summer showing has made waves with the NBA players, as many took to Twitter in late November to commit to the winner-take-all FIBA qualifying tournament in Victoria, B.C., this coming June. 

Murray, Barrett and Gilgeous-Alexander joined Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell and Raptors forward Chris Boucher in committing to the team this summer. 

“Playing for my country is always an honour and I want to take the step and leadership role to commit to Canada Basketball this summer,” Murray Tweeted. “I want to play my part to help push our team into the Olympics and compete at the highest world stage. Let’s go Canada.”

With one last chance to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, Canada will need every available player on the floor if it wants to get past reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the seventh-ranked Greek team. 

For now, hope has been restored in the program and its players as Canada Basketball could field its best roster yet for one last shot at Tokyo.