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For many Raptors fans the sight of former point guard Jose Calderon in a blue jersey just doesn’t sit right.  His seven plus seasons in Toronto were a roller coaster ride of good, bad and mediocre but in the end Calderon left the Raptors as one of the most beloved players the franchise has known.

 

Current Raptor and former team-mate Amir Johnson calls Calderon“A great, great teammate,” and continues saying that “He definitely gave me some buckets. Setting that pick and roll, he looked for me. He was great. He damn near averaged a triple double when he was here. A fun guy to be around here. Funny, just a great guy overall.”

 

Friday’s game in Detroit will be the first time the Raptors face Jose Calderon since he was traded nearly two months ago.

 

“It’ll probably be strange because he’s been here his whole career. It’ll be kinda weird, but we’ll chop it up when we see him for sure.”

Johnson said

 

Calderon called leaving Toronto “very hard,” in a recent interview

“Even if you knew it was coming because of the expiring contract and all the rumours the last couple of years—I always put that aside and I was always like, ‘this is my home.’

The speed of the deal that sent Calderon to the Pistons did leave him with a few regrets.

“It’s so quick sometimes, you don’t realize how many people you leave behind without saying goodbye,” he said

“You don’t have the chance to say thank you. There are so many people who helped me during all those years in Toronto for everything. Not just about basketball, it’s everything. Like life, with my family. Everything.”

Calderon has always been a class act even with the constant rumours regarding his departure over the past few seasons, and he isn’t ruling out a return to the Raptors as a free agent this off-season.

“Why am I going to close that door? I was there a great seven and a half years . . . for sure you have to talk and see what they’re looking for, what they want, how they want it and . . . communication is really important sometimes,” he said.

“I was perfectly happy and that’s why the door is wide open for Toronto; if not, I would say right now, ‘no way, I am not going back to Toronto.’ ”

Financially it may not be possible to bring the franchise assist leader back into the fold with the Raptors next season but Jose Calderon will always be welcome in Toronto

 

 

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