Calgarians will get a first-hand look at the Toronto Raptors on Friday night at Jack Simpson Gym.

An open scrimmage to culminate the NBA team’s four-day training camp in the city offers another reason for fervent basketball fans in Alberta to embrace the sport.

“I heard that there is a lot of passion for basketball here,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, during Thursday’s third day of camp at the University of Calgary. “One of our coaches (of player development), Noah Lewis, studied here in Calgary. He’s raving about the city and how the city loves the game of basketball and how much actually basketball has been evolving over here over last couple of years. So it’s great to be here.

“We’re really looking forward to see fans coming to our open scrimmage.”

Some 3,000 roundball en

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