Are people in Vancouver on the Raptors bandwagon?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Tonight is one the Toronto Raptors have been waiting 21 years to get to.

The team kicks off the first game of the NBA Eastern Conference Final at 5:30 p.m. (Pacific) today against Lebron James and the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s the first time ever a Canadian team will play in an NBA semi-final game.

The Raptors came into the league in 1995 alongside the Vancouver Grizzlies, who departed for Memphis in 2001. The region’s only other team, Seattle’s SuperSonics, pulled up stakes in 2008.

So, are people in the Lower Mainland still interested in the game invented by Canadian Dr. James Naismith in 1891?

“I think there are lots of casual basketball fans in the Lower Mainland sure,” says Spencer McKay, the lead assistant for the UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team.

“The basketball community here in Vancouver is huge; it always has been. The BC high school basketball tournament is the highest-attended high school basketball tournament in the country. So there’s a huge appetite for basketball in British Columbia, in particular in the Lower Mainland.”

But on the retail side of things, it doesn’t appear as though Jurassic fever will reach all the way to the Lower Mainland.

You’re not likely to see an explosion of Raptors’ merchandise on the streets of Vancouver in the same way Toronto Blue Jays hats and shirts became go-to items during the team’s playoff run last year.

“Let’s put it this way: If this was the Jays, my phone would be ringing off the hook. I haven’t had one phone call for Raptors questions. I’ve had questions about Golden State. It’s definitely surprising,” says Van City Sports owner John Svelka.

He says things could pick up if the team manages to take down King James and the Cavs, but he isn’t holding his breath.

“This year — and even last year during the playoffs — there is very little interest or product moving. Even if people would just come in and say, ‘I’m looking for this [shirt] in Raptors,’ we don’t even get that.”

You can watch tonight’s game on Sportsnet.

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