It was a jocular line, a bit derisive and a bit dismissive, and it spoke to the realities facing a Raptors team marooned in Tampa, Fla., a couple of seasons ago.
Masai Ujiri is sure to be reminded of it in this seven-week sprint to the end of the NBA season, and be asked if he still lives by the throwaway line he offered back then:
“Play-in for what?”
Ujiri was referring to what was then a newfangled NBA post-pandemic post-season plan that had the seventh- through 10th-place teams in each conference hold a mini-tournament to determine the final two post-season slots.