Raptors coach opens up wallet to get team on win streak
Nov 26, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic reacts in the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Raptors have been the definition of mediocre so far this season. Head coach Darko Rajakovic is reaching into his own pocket to try to change that.
The Raptors finished the first 20 games of the 2023-24 campaign with a 9-11 record and have hovered around .500 for most of the year. They have yet to win more than two games in a row this season.
Rajakovic is desperate to get his team on a winning streak. The rookie head coach has gone so far as to pledge a “self-funded, all-expenses-paid team dinner” if the Raptors can muster up three straight wins.
Rajakovic added that he wasn’t going to have the team eventually reimburse him for the expenses, which is something Raptors forward Pascal Siakam was wary of. The Serbian play-caller assured his players that he will be footing the bill himself.
“When I announced that Pascal said ‘yeah, the team is going to pay for that,’ he thinks I’m cheap. And that’s not true, so once we get three wins in a row I’m taking staff and players to dinner and it’s going to be out of my pocket,” Rajakovic told Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
The Raptors will have a golden opportunity to do some damage on their head coach’s bank account in the coming weeks. Toronto plays six of their next nine games at home.
There’s a decent chance the team will be ordering steaks courtesy of their coach soon enough. But for Rajakovic, it would be a small price to pay for a little added motivation on the court.
Besides, a team dinner might help get Rajakovic’s mind off being at the center of a legal battle against the New York Knicks.
