Goran Dragic booed in return game against Raptors (VIDEO)

Former Raptors guard Goran Dragic faced a tough reception on Tuesday, getting booed in his return to Toronto.

Video of the Dragic reception in Toronto: pic.twitter.com/ydEXlNeIWw

— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) March 2, 2022

Dragic played just five games for the Raptors, being traded to San Antonio before a buyout and new contract saw him end up in Brooklyn.

Originally acquired by the Raptors as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade with Miami, the 34-year-old Dragic left Toronto in November due to personal reasons and was out of the NBA for over two months before joining the Nets earlier in February.

Dragic irked some fans with initial comments that he had “higher ambitions” than joining the Raptors when first acquired, which began a strained relationship that was never fully repaired despite his attempts to retract the comments.

Publicly, though, neither Dragic nor the Raptors would acknowledge if there was any animosity.

“They wanted to go young,” Dragic told reporters last week about why he thinks it didn’t work out with Toronto.

“He has been a complete professional in the time that he has been with the Raptors,” the Raptors said in a statement announcing his leave from the team that carried through right until the moment he was traded. “We wish him nothing but the best.”

Warm welcome back for Goran 🙃 pic.twitter.com/xjzMD6x7Ad

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) March 2, 2022

In his first game back to Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Dragic was booed by the Toronto faithful just about every time he touched the ball on Tuesday after being subbed in midway through the first quarter.

“They didn’t take their foot off the gas the full game,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said postgame.

Dragic was fouled early into his appearance, but missed both free throws, which led to cheers amongst Toronto fans.

Goran misses a pair of free throws 🙃 pic.twitter.com/XXVdFjbres

— 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 (@AaronBenRose) March 2, 2022

Some fans were largely indifferent to his departure, while it appears that Dragic had a pre-game reunion with a few members of the Raptors’ staff pregame.

Terrible photo, but nothing but smiles and laughs for Goran with Raptors folks as he comes out to shoot at Scotiabank Arena. Fans might be booing; old teammates will be dapping. There were never hard feelings: pic.twitter.com/BPdxaitefx

— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) March 1, 2022

Toronto ended up winning a close one by a 109-108 score, with Dragic finishing the night with 10 points, two rebounds, and two assists.

Oddly enough, it was Dragic’s second game of a back-to-back against the Raptors, having lost 133-97 in Brooklyn the previous night.

The game was also Toronto’s first with a full crowd in attendance in over two months, with COVID-19 restrictions limiting the Raptors’ attendance to either partial or no crowd since December 18.