You may know who Dallas Maverick’s star Luka Dončić is, but do you know his godfather was once a Toronto Raptor?
Before Arrival
Nestrović was selected 17th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1998 NBA draft. Known as “Rasho”, he played at the Center position. He remained with the Timberwolves for four years, but left to the San Antonio Spurs via free agency in 2003. Although the Timberwolves were offering him a similar contract worth $12 million more, Nesterović opted for the move for a shot at the NBA title, signing a six-year contract (see D Perko’s article). Spur’s coach Gregg Popovich at the time believed he would be the replacement for David Robinson. Rasho did win the NBA title with the 2004-2005 San Antonio Spurs.
On 21 June 2006, Nesterović, along with cash, was sent to the Toronto Raptors from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, and a 2009 2nd round pick (Jack McClinton was later selected).
Since being drafted in 1998, on April 2, 2008, Rasho makes his first ever NBA regular season 3-pointer on a buzzer beater.
Rasho was a welcome addition to the Raptors that did not have a traditional center. He was instrumental in the playoffs
The Departure and arrival again
On 9 July 2008, Rasho was traded by the Toronto Raptors with Maceo Baston, T.J. Ford and Roy Hibbert to the Indiana Pacers for Nathan Jawai and Jermaine O’Neal.
After a year with the Indiana Pacers, 30 July 2009, Rasho signed as a free agent with the Toronto Raptors for one more year, his final year in the NBA. He left in 2010-11 for Olympiakos of the EuroLeague for one more year before retirement.
Side Story – From Luka’s godfather to father, and Vlade Divac
Nesterović, being a fellow Slovenian, became the godfather of Luka Dončić.
On an interesting side note regarding fathers, Luka’s biological father, Saša Dončić, is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player.
Questions arose when Serbian Vlade Divac, the former NBA player and current general manager of the Sacramento Kings, passed on Slovenian Luka with the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. For a quick geography lesson, Serbia and Slovenia were both part of Yugoslavia before 1991 and both countries now are on friendly terms.
Last November, an article written by Peter Botte suggested that it was because Vlade Divac disliked Luka Dončić’s father that caused the Kings to draft Marvin Bagley III (Deandre Ayton went first to the Phoenix Suns) instead. Luka went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
The Card: 1998 Sage – Autographs #A36
SA•GE Collectibles, Inc., a small independent card company, describes themselves as operating in the same manner like small, independent breweries and wineries where making quality and unique product are the company’s mission.
Tom Geideman and Robert Sadlak were at ScoreBoard, Inc. serving as Director of Marketing and Director of Operations respectively. After ScoreBoard, Inc went into bankruptcy, they borrowed the first two letters of their last names to incorporate SA•GE in June of 1998.
Tom Geideman is well-known in the card industry as being responsible for creating the iconic 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card. He was interviewed on the 2018 trading card documentary, Jack of all Trades.
The 1998 SA•GE collection contained cards of players after the NBA draft. The card front shows a close-up of Rasho’s face, while he is pictured in a jersey with the sponsor “Kinder” at the back. There are no licenses shown on the card. Kinder is the company that makes “Kinder Surprise eggs”, a product brand line of Italian confectionery multinational Ferrero SpA. It had become the new sponsor of Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna in 1996, and with Rasho joining in 1997 (the year before being drafted in the NBA), and won the EuroLeague title.
This card was serial numbered to 455/999 hand-written on the holographic sticker. The card back provides no statistics and/or extensive player biographies.
After Jones was born and his mother took him home from the hospital, his brother was watching Popeye on TV. When asked what name to name his baby brother, he said “Popeye.”
Before Arrival
Popeye Jones was selected by Houston in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft. On 30 June 1993, the Houston Rockets traded his rights to the Dallas Mavericks for Eric Riley. Jones played one season in Europe before beginning his first of two stints with Dallas in 1993.
On 9 January 1996, in a game against the Indiana Pacers, Jones had 28 rebounds. As of this post, these 28 rebounds by Jones is still the record for most rebounds by a Maverick in a game.
Besides rebounding, Jones was also a film reviewer with Tony Dumas as a member of the Mavericks for Blockbuster Video.
As a Maverick, Popeye, along with Dallas teammate Tony Dumas, reviewed films related to basketball for Blockbuster Video.
On 23 July 1996, the Dallas Mavericks traded Jones, along with a 1997 1st round draft pick (John Thomas was later selected) to the Toronto Raptors for Jimmy King, a 1998 2nd round draft pick (Ansu Sesay was later selected) and a 1999 2nd round draft pick (Gordan Giriček was later selected). Toronto had the option to swap 1st round draft picks with Dallas in 1997 (a draft pick owned by Dallas that was originally owned by Minnesota) but did not do so.
Popeye Jones’ name origin is discussed when he joined the Toronto Raptors
Popeye still remembers defeating the Chicago Bulls on 8 December 1996 by a score of 97-89 as a fond memory during his time as a Toronto Raptor.
“I always tease him one of those regular-season losses I was on an expansion Toronto Raptors team, and we beat their butts. In Toronto and gave them one of their losses, but then we went to Chicago, and he had ice on his knees midway through the third [quarter] and they were up by 30 on us.”.
– Popeye Jones quoted in Basketball Society
The game that the Bulls were up by 30 that Jones referred to should be the 25 January 1997 game where the Raptors lost in Chicago 110-98.
The Departure
On 18 February 1998, Jones was traded, along with Kenny Anderson and Žan Tabak to the Boston Celtics for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers, and John Thomas. Popeye would later go on to play for the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, returning to Dallas Mavericks, and finally the Golden State Warriors.
Retirement Career
After retirement, Jones first became an assistant coach for the New Jersey/ Brooklyn Nets from 2010-2013. He went on to become assistant coach of the Indiana Pacers .
Popeye has three sons, Justin, Seth and Kaleb, all of whom are professional players. Interestingly, all three became hockey, not basketball players. In particular, Seth Jones was an NHL All-Star in 2017 and 2019.
The Card: 1997-98 Skybox Premium – Autographics #NNO
The 1997-98 Skybox Premium Autographics sets were on card autographs inserted into 1997-98 SkyBox Premium (set of 250 cards) packs. These cards were considered rare, although no serial numbers were printed on the card. Unlike in the 1996-97 set, no numbers were assigned to these cards. There were a total of 117 cards in the Autographics set, with three players on the Toronto Raptors that year – Marcus Camby and Walt Williams.
Skybox itself was a NASDAQ traded company from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, the comic-empire Marvel Entertainment Group (now owned by the Walt Disney Company) purchased SkyBox for $150 million. Marvel merged SkyBox and Fleer as Fleer/SkyBox International. Regarding autographs, Marvel was considered to have a positive influence on Fleer/SkyBox, as the Skybox Premium Autographics autographed insert set covered many players. This insert set discontinued when Marvel sold Fleer/Skybox in 1999. To learn more about Fleer/Skybox, click here.
Resources:
L Buford. “Popeye Jones Reminisces on Raptors Beating Jordan’s Bulls in 1996.” Basketball Society, 16 April 2020. https://basketballsocietyonline.com/popeye-jones-beating-jordan-bulls-1996 (Note: this article refers to the 26 March 2006 win against the Chicago Bulls, however, that reference is incorrect since Popeye was still on the Dallas Mavericks at that time)
A short stint as a Raptor, Jackson later became an NBA coach, a victim of an extortion involving the FBI, and a Christian pastor attempting to heal Stephen Curry. He even appeared on a New York Knicks basketball card that included two murderers at court-side.
Before Arrival
Mark Jackson was selected 18th overall by the New York Knicks in the 1987 NBA draft. He would go on to play for the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, and the Denver Nuggets (who traded Jackson back to the Pacers after just eight months), before arriving to Toronto.
On 11 August 2000, at age 35, Jackson signed with the Toronto Raptors as a free agent to afour-year, $14 million deal. He was brought in with the cap space that was freed up due to Tracy McGrady leaving Toronto to sign with the Orlando Magic.
On 8 December 2000 in a game against the Golden State Warriors, Jackson surpasses Isiah Thomas in the All-Time Assists Per Game while as a Raptor.
To this day, Jackson holds the highest assists per game than any other Raptors at 9.2. For perspective, other notable point guards in Raptors history were Damon Stoudamire at 8.8 APG, Jose Calderon at 7.2 APG, and Kyle Lowry at 7.1 APG. However, Jackson’s defense and foot-speed had become a concern and his time as a Raptor was short-lived.
The Departure
On 22 February 2001, a span of about six months, he was traded, along with Muggsy Bogues, to the New York Knicks for Chris Childs and a 2002 1st round draft pick, which later became Kareem Rush.
At the time of this trade, both the Raptors and Knicks were battling for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks were the fourth seed in the East at 31-23 while the Raptors were the seventh seed at 28-27.
The trade was unpopular with some of the players, especially from Jackson’s friend and former teammate Antonio Davis at the time, who took his comments to the media.
”I think you try to see if the team is loyal to the player…you try to ask yourself, ‘If I sign with this team next year and we’re having problems are they going to jump the gun that quick and try to get rid of people?’ Those are things you ask yourself. As far as that particular trade is concerned, I can’t let it sway me one way or the other. But yeah, it’s in the back of my mind. They traded my friend. Obviously, it’s going to be a sour feeling in me.”
– Antonio Davis, quoted in the New York Times
Jackson himself also sounded displeased.
”They have to take credit for losing Tracy McGrady and losing Doug Christie…they want to take credit for the good moves. Well, take credit for the bad moves, too.”
– Mark Jackson on Raptors management
The Raptors would meet the Knicks that very same year in the first-round of the playoffs. The Raptors managed to come back from a 2-1 deficit to win the deciding game five on the Knicks’ home court.
Jackson would go on to play also for the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets before completing a successful NBA career. As of the date of this post, Jackson was 4th in NBA all-time assists with 10,334.
Retirement Career
After retirement, Mark Jackson appeared on television as an NBA broadcast commentator.
On 6 June 2011, Jackson was hired as head coach of the Golden State Warriors. After inheriting a team that had made the playoffs just once in the previous 17 years, Jackson’s team struggled to a 23–43 record. In the 2012–13 season, Jackson led the Warriors to a 47–35 record and a #6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The following season, the Warriors improved to 51–31, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Victim of Extortion
In 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) filed a Criminal Complaint to the United States District Court. The FBI later confirmed that the victim in the case was referring to Mark Jackson. You can download the actual court document filed by the FBI below.
The facts of the case was that Alexis Adams and her associate, Marcus Shaw, allegedly attempted to extort up to US$200,000 from Mark Jackson so that private, nude, explicit photographs and “phone recordings” Jackson sent to Adams would not be made public.
Jackson, while working as a television analyst, met Adams in 2006, who was a dancer at a gentleman’s club in New York.
On 28 June 2012, Jackson issued the following public statement to the media:
“My family and I were the victims of an extortion scheme.
The scheme began on 3 April 2012, when the Warriors were in Memphis to play the Grizzlies. A man approached me at the team hotel with personal information which he threatened to sell to a tabloid. At the time, he demanded a substantial sum of money. Regrettably, I paid him. In retrospect, I understand that this was a terrible lapse in judgment and a course of action I would not recommend to anyone.
Following the encounter in Memphis – a little over two weeks later – the extortionist sent an e-mail and phoned my wife, Desiree, making threats and demanding additional money. At that point, I informed the Warriors about the situation and asked for their guidance. We immediately notified the FBI, which promptly began an investigation.
The personal information in the extortion scheme related to a woman that I, mistakenly, had an extra-marital relationship with six years ago – prior to joining the Warriors – when I was a TV sports analyst. I made my wife aware of the relationship at that time, apologized to her and we reconciled…
… At that time in my life, I was not pastoring. Three years ago, my wife and I established a ministry. With deepest regret, I want to apologize to my Church Family.
I was wrong. We must live Holy.”
– Mark Jackson
This may have been a shocking revelation to fans, as Jackson, even before becoming a Christian and a licensed minister, signed his cards with “God bless U” and was known as a holy man spreading his faith.
Christian Pastor
In 2009, Jackson and his wife pastor established the True Love Worship Center International in Reseda, California. The story does not end there, as Sports Illustrated had written about Jackson’s Church and their attempt to heal Stephen Curry’s injuries.
A part of the tradition at Jackson’s church was a spirited service including worshippers jogging along the walls of the congregation in praise. [Stephen] Curry, two days removed from his latest sprain, found himself taking laps with Jackson and the other members filled with the spirit. Then after Jackson’s sermon, his wife and co-pastor, Desiree, continued the worship with an impromptu sermon and benediction. She also called Curry to the altar.
They took off his shoes and socks, anointed his ankle with oil and prayed for healing. The parishioners lifted their voices in chants and amens, calling on God to bless one of His Christian ambassadors. Service at Jackson’s church was much more passionate and engaging than Curry was used to back in Charlotte. But he humbly accepted the blessing that was being offered and returned to his seat with a smile on his face.
“Where you going?” Desiree asked the star point guard in front of the congregation. Curry responded with his go-to look of bewilderment, a half smile and widened eyes. He thought he was supposed to return back among the flock when she was done.
“You don’t get a blessing from the Lord and just walk off!” she shouted. “Show us you believe in the power of God.”
It took Curry a second to understand what she meant. Then the old Bible stories rushed to his mind. Like when Jesus healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda, that man had to pick up his mat and walk. If he believed he was healed, he needed to show it.
So Curry started shimmying and hopping on his right foot, much to the delight of the congregation.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Curry said.
– excerpts from M Thompson, Sports Illustrated citing “Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry” by M Thompson II
On 6 May 2014, Jackson was removed as head coach of the Warriors, before the Warriors become a dynasty under head coach Steve Kerr.
The Card: 2000-01 Upper Deck Black Diamond – Gold #80
The 2000-01 Upper Deck Black Diamond – Gold set was a parallel set of 132 cards. The card was serial numbered, out of 250 or 500. This card is 327/500. Four players were in the set as Toronto Raptors that year – Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Morris Peterson, and Mark Jackson.
As of the date of this post, Mark Jackson did not have an autographed or relic Toronto Raptors card issued by any trading card company.
Jackson’s autographs on cards can be easily distinguished because he would regularly write “God Bless”, or “God Bless U” along with his signature.
One of Jackson’s most popular cards was the 1990-91 NBA Hoops card #205 with the New York Knicks, showing the convicted Menendez brothers watching the game court-side. The full story is here.
The 1991 NBA Slam Dunk champion’s most important win in Toronto may have been in court, not at the Air Canada Centre, but at Ontario’s Court of Appeal.
Before Arrival
DeCovanKadell “Dee” Brown began his NBA career with the Boston Celtics after being drafted 19th overall in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft. Known as Dee Brown, he was popular for being the 1991 Slam Dunk champion. He spent seven and a half seasons with the Celtics, before he landed in Toronto.
On 13 February 1998, the Raptors first ever blockbuster six-player trade sent a disgruntled Damon Stoudamire, Carlos Rogers, and Walt Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers for Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams, two 1998 first-round picks and a 1998 second-round pick. Kenny Anderson refused to report to Toronto and was quickly traded away to Boston.
Dee Brown was part of this Boston trade. On trade deadline day 19 February 1998, the Raptors dealt Anderson, Zan Tabak and Popeye Jones to the Boston Celtics for the rookie point guard Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, John Thomas, and Roy Rogers.
As reported after the trade happened, Doug Christie was less than thrilled to know that he was not traded away and was stuck with the Raptors. Butch Carter had to ask that Toronto fans not boo their own players.
Dee Brown is interviewed right after being traded to the Raptors
Dee Brown did not make a huge impact on the Raptors, but off the basketball court, he had to face the court of law.
The criminal trial and appeal
The facts are simple. On 1 November 1999 at around 12:55 a.m., a Toronto police officer engaged in general patrol duties on the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, signalled Brown to pull over to the right shoulder of the road. The officer informed Brown that the speed limit was 90 kilometres an hour and that the respondent had been travelling “in excess” of that speed. According to the Canadian court records, the officer detected the odour of alcohol on Brown’s breath and suspected that he had alcohol in his body. Brown was on his way home from a Halloween party and said that he had consumed a couple of drinks. Brown produced a Florida driver’s licence on demand and told the officer that he played professional basketball for the Toronto Raptors. He failed the roadside screening test demanded by the officer who then arrested him for “driving over 80”.
“Driving over 80” in the province of Ontario means means that if you drive with more than 80 mg of alcohol in your 100 mL of blood, you count as driving under the influence of alcohol (“DUI“) and can face an impaired driving charge.
Brown was taken to the police station at 45 Strachan Avenue, which was the closest location where breath-testing equipment was set up. The subsequent breath analysis showed that the respondent’s blood-alcohol concentration was 140 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood.
Under Ontario law, this would fall within the definition of DUI. Brown was ultimately charged with driving over 80. He was convicted of DUI at first instance. This initial conviction would be the first battle before important appellate court battles for Brown.
Brown’s defense lawyers won his appeal. The summary conviction appeal judge, Trafford J., set aside Brown’s conviction based on his conclusion that the trial judge’s conduct of the trial gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. Note that this was a procedural appeal in law, meaning the defense did not dispute that Brown did in fact commit DUI. The judge relied, inter alia (among other considerations) on the trial judge’s suggestion to Brown during sentencing that the accused apologise to the officer for the allegations against the officer for committing racial profiling against Brown.
The Crown prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario. The court process had moved to 2003. Brown had since retired but flew back to Toronto to face the legal court one more time.
In Her Majesty the Queen v. Brown, there was only one issue raised at the ensuing trial: what was the reason for the officer stopping Brown on the Don Valley Parkway? Was it because the respondent was speeding and had twice crossed out of and back into the lane in which he was travelling, as testified to by the officer, or was it because he was a young black male driving an expensive car?
On 16 April 2003, the judges found for the latter. The Crown’s appeal was dismissed and Brown ‘s conviction was set aside. Brown may have won the most important court battle and it was not on an NBA court. For those interested in all the legal details detailing the explaining the legal reasoning behind a judge’s reasonable apprehension of bias, read the full judgement here.
Brown was not the only Raptor that had alcohol issues. Keon Clark was sentenced to prison for crimes related to his alcohol and drug abuse after his NBA career ended.
The Departure
Brown left via free agency in 2000 and on 3 August 2000, signed a contract with the Orlando Magic. He retired in 2002. He has been in NBA management and is now a Director of Player Programs of the Los Angeles Clippers since 2019-2020.
The Card: 1999-00 Topps Chrome #85
The 1999-2000 Topps Chrome set contained 257 cards of players. The Chrome brand was extremely popular when the basketball set began back in the 1996-1997 until 2008-2009. The chrome effect on the standard base cards elevates the look of the card with a shiny effect. The card back contains a complete NBA record and a short highlight.
Topps left producing NBA basketball cards when it lost its NBA license to the Italian group Panini S.p.A, which signed an exclusive trading card agreement with the NBA beginning the 2009-2010 season.
As of the date of this post, Dee Brown did not have an autographed or relic Toronto Raptors card issued by any trading card company.
As for the card itself, was using a photo featuring two “Browns” (no relations) on the card an Easter egg by Topps? The player on the left of Dee Brown was Charlotte Hornet’s #52, Chucky Brown. Brown had an extensive career and played in the NBA for 13 years (1989-2002). During that span, he played for twelve different teams, but never for the Raptors. Those teams were the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings. He won a championship with the Houston Rockets.
Even entering the Vince Carter era, the Raptors struggled to attract players from free agency, so they internationalised by bringing in “firsts” from different nationalities. Similar to Sean Marks being the first New Zealand NBA player two years prior, Garth Joesph followed by being the first Dominica NBA player. Dominica, not to be mistaken with the Dominican Republic, is a mountainous Caribbean island nation with natural hot springs and tropical rainforests.
On 2 October 2000, Joseph signed as a free agent with the Toronto Raptors at the US$316,969 minimum NBA salary.
Sources online stated that his full name was Garth McArthur “The Angel of Death” Fitzgerald Joseph, although it is a mystery why he had that nickname. At the time, people compared Joseph to Shaquille O’Neal.
Not many fans will remember Joseph as he only played two games for the Raptors. He may be most remembered as one of the pieces that brought Keon Clark to Toronto.
The Departure
On 12 January 2001, Toronto traded away Garth Joseph, along with Alek Radojevic, Kevin Willis, Toronto’s 2001 2nd round pick, and a traded player exception (TPE), to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Keon Clark, Tracy Murray and Mamadou N’Diaye.
Garth Joseph would go on to play two more games with the Denver Nuggets before being waived on 29 January 2001. He would later sign for the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls in 2001 and 2003 respectively, but he did not end up playing an NBA game for them.
After retirement, Garth Joesph was inducted to the College of Saint Rose Hall of Fame, a private college located in Albany, New York.
Garth Joesph is inducted in the 2017 College of Saint Rose Hall of Fame.
As a side note, Toronto’s 2001 2nd round pick to Denver would later become Ousmane Cisse, a player that never appeared in the NBA due to injury issues. In 2003, Cisse signed with the Toronto Raptors but was released after a couple of days without ever playing with the team.
The Card: 2000-01 Fleer Futures #236
The 2000-2001 Fleer Futures set contained 250 cards of players and including 52 rookies. Players from the 2000 NBA draft, including Hidayet (Hedo) Turkoglu (201) was in part of the rookie set. Morris Peterson was the other rookie (225) in the set that was on the Toronto Raptors at the time. The card back included 2000 preseason statistics and also college statistics if you were a rookie.
The player on the right of Joseph is #24 Charlotte Hornets player Jamal Mashburn. This was the only basketball card produced for Garth Joseph (the other 2 being parallels of the same card – Gold and Black Gold).
Fleer owned the Futures brand. To learn more about Fleer, click here.
You may remember Haywoode Workman, not as a Toronto Raptors player, but as an NBA referee. He was there on the court for Kobe Bryant’s emotional last game officiating when the Los Angeles Lakers played host to the Utah Jazz on 13 April 2016.
Before Arrival
Workman was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2nd round (49th pick) in the 1989 NBA Draft. He played in Italy for a year but came back to play for the Indiana Pacers and then the Milwaukee Bucks. He was waived by Milwaukee on 7 February 2000.
On 9 February 2000, Workman was claimed off waivers by Toronto from Milwaukee. Looking at his stats, it eerily mirrors that of Chris Garner’s time as a Raptor (1.4 PPG, 0.6RPG, 1.2APG, 7.7MPG).
No one would blame you if you did not remember Workman as he only played 13 games. He never made an impact with the Raptors.
The Departure
On 14 September 2000, Workman was released by the Toronto Raptors. His career did not stop there however.
“Hey, you can’t stop anybody. You can’t go by anybody anymore, so why don’t you give me a hand refereeing this game?”
– Bob Delaney, an NBA referee from 1987 to 2011
Haywoode Workman, a Raptor to referee?
Bob Delaney met Workman in 2003 at a skills camp and got Workman into officiating. Workman was on the NBA referee roster in 2006–07 and 2007–08 as a preseason referee, while he was an NBA Development League official during the season. He was the third ex-NBA player to become an NBA referee, the first two being Bernie Fryer and Leon Wood.
According to The Post Game, former Raptor James Johnson also expressed interest in following Workman’s unique career path. “If you love the game like how we all do, you want to stay in the game as long as you can,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s weird; I think it’s a passion.“
The Card: 2000-01 Ultra – Gold Medallion #29G
The 2000-01 Ultra set contained 225 cards of players and including 28 rookies, carrying the NBA license.
This Gold Medallion card is a parallel of the base set. In case that was not enough, Fleer also released a Platinum Medallion parallel of the base set as well. What separates this parallel set from the base set is the card front’s background is set gold instead of just a photo and a “Gold Medallion Edition” printed on the front. The back remains the same with the exception a “G” following the card number. The set’s card back provides statistics and a short paragraph about the player.
This particular card did not include any career highlights, most likely because Workman was a true “Workman”, having already 7 NBA season experience before landing in Toronto. This was his final NBA released card, as he retired as a player after playing with Toronto.
Fleer owned the Ultra brand. To learn more about Fleer, click here.
Keon Clark was a fan favourite in Toronto. Unfortunately, drinking and drugs landed him in prison after his career.
Before Arrival
Clark was selected 13th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1998 NBA draft but was later traded in January 1999 to the Denver Nuggets for a 1999 first round draft pick.
On 12 January 2001, Keon Clark, along with Tracy Murray and Mamadou N’Diaye, was sent to the Toronto Raptors from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Garth Joseph, Alek Radojevic, Kevin Willis and a 2001 2nd round pick.
Clark holds the Raptors record for most blocks in one game with 12, set on 23 March 2001 against the Atlanta Hawks.
Keon Clark with 12 blocks against the Hawks
The Departure
In 2002, Keon Clark left the Raptors via free agency and signed with the Sacramento Kings.
After his retirement from the NBA in 2004, Clark revealed his problems with substance abuse. According to ESPN, Clark admitted that he “never played a game sober” and would even drink at halftime during games.
In 2013, Clark was sentenced to eight years in prison stemming from a weapons and DUI charge but was released from prison in July 2017.
The Card: 1998 Sage – Autographs Silver #A9
SA•GE Collectibles, Inc., a small independent card company, describes themselves as operating in the same manner like small, independent breweries and wineries where making quality and unique product are the company’s mission.
Tom Geideman and Robert Sadlak were at ScoreBoard, Inc. serving as Director of Marketing and Director of Operations respectively. After ScoreBoard, Inc went into bankruptcy, they borrowed the first two letters of their last names to incorporate SA•GE in June of 1998.
Tom Geideman is well-known in the card industry as being responsible for creating the iconic 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card. He was interviewed on the 2018 trading card documentary, Jack of all Trades.
The 1998 SA•GE collection contained cards of players after the NBA draft. The card front shows Keon Clark in plain clothing, while he is pictured in a jersey at the back. There are no licenses shown on the card, which is probably why the card back picture was chosen, since the team name on the card back is covered by Keon’s hands.
This card was serial numbered to 233/400 hand-written on the holographic sticker. The card back provides no statistics and/or extensive player biographies.
He was the first New Zealand NBA player. He was the Brooklyn Nets general manager who signed Kevin Durant in 2019. What did Sean Marks do as a Raptor? Not much.
Before Arrival
Marks was the first New Zealand-born player to play in the NBA and started out drafted by the New York Knicks as a second round draft pick 44th overall of the 1998 NBA Draft.
On 25 June 1998, the New York Knicks packaged Marks with Charles Oakley for Marcus Camby. This was the day after Antawn Jamison was traded for Vince Carter at the 1998 NBA Draft.
Marks rarely played or made an impact having only played 13 games.
The Departure
In 2000–01, Marks left the NBA and started the season with Śląsk Wrocław of Poland. Although Marks did return to the NBA, he was a bench player and did not have a notable NBA career. He did make a three pointer in a game playing for the Portland Trailblazers.
Sean Marks making a three as a member of the Portland Trailblazers
After retiring as a player in 2011, Marks was inducted into the Basketball New Zealand Hall of Fame.
He became involved as an NBA executive and was named basketball operations assistant for the San Antonio Spurs and general manager for the Austin Toros in 2012. He became an assistant coach with the Spurs in 2013. At the start of 2014, he returned to the front office, being named assistant general manager. On 18 February 2016, it was announced that the Brooklyn Nets named Marks as the new general manager for the team. His most notable transaction to date was the signing of star player Kevin Durant in 2019.
The Card: 1998 Sage – Autographs Silver #A28
SA•GE Collectibles, Inc., a small independent card company, describes themselves as operating in the same manner like small, independent breweries and wineries where making quality and unique product are the company’s mission.
Tom Geideman and Robert Sadlak were at ScoreBoard, Inc. serving as Director of Marketing and Director of Operations respectively. After ScoreBoard, Inc went into bankruptcy, they borrowed the first two letters of their last names to incorporate SA•GE in June of 1998.
Tom Geideman is well-known in the card industry as being responsible for creating the iconic 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card. He was interviewed on the 2018 trading card documentary, Jack of all Trades.
The 1998 SA•GE collection contained cards of players after the NBA draft. The card shows Sean Marks playing for the University of California.
This card was serial numbered to 150/400 hand-written on the holographic sticker. The card back provides no statistics and/or extensive player biographies.
This card indicated “Round 2 (44) Toronto” suggesting that Toronto drafted Sean Marks, but he was actually drafted by the New York Knicks and traded to Toronto the following day.
Known as “Mo Pete”, Toronto selected Peterson with the 21st pick in the 2000 draft out of Michigan State. He was an older rookie at 23 and joined Vince Carter in the playoff run that year which fell one shot short of the Conference Finals.
Peterson played under three GMs, Glen Grunwald during the Vince Carter years, the Rob Babcock era from 2004 to 2006 and stayed when Brian Colangelo took over.
In 2005, Mo Pete was NBA’s “Ironman”, and Peterson led the NBA in longest consecutive games played, appearing in 371 straight until 22 November 2006, when he missed his first game in over four years.
“We got to talk to Rob (Babcock) and give (Peterson) a 13-year extension so he can catch A.C. Green.”
– Rafer Alston
Near the end of his Raptor career when Anthony Parker took over starting duties, Mo Pete only got to play 55 seconds, but he made a shot that will be remembered in Raptors history.
30 March 2007 – The impossible game tying Mo Pete shot. Toronto won that away game against the Washington Wizards 123-118 (OT)
The Departure
Peterson left via free agency in 2007 and signed with the New Orleans Hornets.
Outside of basketball
Mo Pete has was involved in news outside of basketball.
The Toronto Star’s Rick Westhead reported on 13 September 2004 that Mo Pete was a target of a hefty lawsuit. Daphne Charlemagne, then 26, was seeking $1 million in general damages and $500,000 in special damages. She alleged that Peterson either knew or should have known that he had and was a carrier of genital herpes. In her affidavit, Charlemagne said she met Peterson on 19 December 2000 (a Toronto game against Utah Jazz that was won by the Raptors 103-95), when she attended a Raptors game and sat behind the team’s bench. It was reported that Peterson and Charlemagne allegedly began dating days later. Within two months, on 22 February 2001, Charlemagne said she was diagnosed with herpes. She did not have any other male partners during the time she dated Peterson, Charlemagne’s affidavit said. “After knowing that I had genital herpes, I advised Morris Peterson that I contracted the virus from him,” she said in court documents.
More recently, MLive Media Group’s Dominic Adams released an article on 2 August 2017 referring to a legal complaint filed in December 2016 by Shemeca Craddock for paternity and support in Colorado against Peterson. The Colorado woman claims Mo Pete could be the father of her 6-year-old son and is asking for the Colorado court’s help to prove it.
Peterson lives in Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint, Michigan in Genesee County. It was reported that the County Prosecutor David Leyton has gotten involved and has sent numerous letters to Peterson requesting he take a paternity test after the case was moved into the Genesee County Court system. The link to the rest of the article is available below.
The Card: 2003-04 SP Signature – Authentic Signatures #AS-MP
The 2003-2004 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition collection contained 77 cards and had the NBA license. The other Toronto Raptors card in that 77 card series was Chris Bosh.
These cards were not serial numbered so it is unknown how many cards Morris Peterson actually signed. This is an on-card autograph. The congratulations card backs provide no statistics and/or extensive player biographies.
Little did anyone know that Alvin Williams would be the main piece coming back for Mighty Mouse, although injuries cut his NBA career short.
Before Arrival
Alvin Williams started out in the NBA as a second round draft pick. Whereas former Raptor Anthony Parker was drafted in Round 1 with 21st pick, the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Alvin Williams in the second round 47th overall of the 1997 NBA Draft.
On 13 February 1998, Williams was acquired in the blockbuster six-player trade that sent a disgruntled Damon Stoudamire, Carlos Rogers, and Walt Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers for Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams, two 1998 first-round picks and a 1998 second-round pick (added on 16 February 1998 due to Alvin’s injury). Kenny Anderson refused to play for Toronto and was quickly traded to Boston.
As a side note, those two 1998 first-round picks then went to the Houston Rockets in the Kevin Willis trade, which the Houston Rockets drafted #16 Bryce Drew and #18 Mirsad Turkcan. The Raptors kept the second-round pick and drafted #47 Tyson Wheeler. Wheeler played one NBA game in his career, but it was with the Denver Nuggets.
Williams did not immediately make an impact. Although he started 73 of the 105 games he played during his first two full seasons as a Raptor, he averaged 5.1 points on 40 per cent shooting in 17 minutes per game.
In 2000, then GM Glen Grunwald signed veteran Mark Jackson. As backup, Alvin Williams performance improved, and the Raptors traded Jackson to the New York Knicks at the trade deadline that season.
One of the biggest moments came in Game 5 of the 2001 playoffs against the New York Knicks.
At 5:01, Alvin Williams hits the jumper clinching the Raptors first ever playoff series win
The Departure
After missing a third of the 2003–04 and the entire 2004-05 season with a knee injury, Williams re-joined the Raptors lineup at the start of the 2005-06 season but was back on the injured list after playing just one game. The injuries had cut his NBA career short.
The Score Board collection contained cards of players after the NBA draft. The card shows Alvin Williams playing for the Villanova Wildcats and highlights Williams being a 1997 rookie.
These cards were not serial numbered so it is unknown how many cards Alvin Williams actually signed. This is an on-card autograph. The bland congratulations card back provides no statistics and/or extensive player biographies.
This was the last year that Score Board, Inc. produced cards. In 1998, the company declared chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Read more about Score Board, Inc, the contract and the money behind the cards here.
MoCC 