Raptors Considering Black and Gold Colour Scheme

The Toronto Raptors are reportedly considering switching to a black and gold colour scheme when they unveil their complete rebrand for the 2015-16 NBA season.

In a blog piece on the Toronto Star website, basketball reporter Doug Smith saying “he knows people who knows people” who say that “black and gold is definitely something being considered”.

Smith later adds, “This is by no means a done deal and there is still time for them to tinker and change and do whatever they have in this grandiose to re-invent the organization” before going off on a multi-paragraph rant about how re-branding means nothing and winning is the only thing that matters for a team… yes, we know, thank you.

The Raptors have been gradually shifting to a mostly black colour scheme over their franchise history

Late last year the Toronto Raptors announced that rap superstar, and proud Torontonian Drake, would be involved with the rebranding in a role similar to Jay-Z’s with the Brooklyn Nets. Jay-Z turned the Nets into an extension of his own brand, having them wear his trademark black and white colours… using that as our only precedence in the “rapper designs a basketball brand” category, black and gold seems like a likely candidate.

The news of this comes as the Raptors are set to hold “Drake Night” at the Air Canada Centre featuring black-and-gold marketing material… the game is against, you guessed it, the Brooklyn Nets:

See that owl? That’s the “Drake Owl”, a sort of personal logo for the aforementioned rapper.

Hey, what type of bird is an owl? A raptor. Woah.

Would the Raptors really consider a switch from the dinosaur type of raptor to the bird type of raptor? I wouldn’t be shocked to see it happen especially if they’re going to let Drake do his Drake thing all over this team.

Anyways, the Toronto Raptors have commented on the report saying they’re looking at all sorts of options, including making Toronto the city of blue-and-white much like Pittsburgh’s black-and-yellow:

When asked if the black and gold scheme is the current leading contender, Leiweke told the Sun: “We are looking at a few different ideas.” One of them would be a blue and white look, to tie in with the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays.

Multiple sources said they have seen mockups featuring the black and gold design.

Black and actual gold would be fairly unique in the pro sports world, the Pittsburgh Penguins ~~would be the closest team~~ (EDIT: how in the heck did I forget about the New Orleans Saints?!) that’s currently using this colour scheme. Previously the Washington Wizards have wore an all black and gold alternate uniform. The Jacksonville Jaguars also wear predominantly black and gold but with some teal thrown in as an accent.