Collin Murray-Boyles Toronto Raptors NBA Draft Screengrab via ESPN
By Matt Yoder on

The Toronto Raptors selected South Carolina Gamecock Collin Murray-Boyles with the 9th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night.

But initially, Murray-Boyles didn’t seem all that happy.

In a draft where one of the headlines was Ace Bailey from Rutgers failing to make it to one of his preferred teams and being selected by the Utah Jazz, it looked like Murray-Boyles had a similar sentiment after being drafted by the Raptors, rising from his seat and uttering a profanity.

Both Collin Murray-Boyles and the Toronto Raptors were quick to downplay the reaction. First, in an interview on NBATV, Murray-Boyles told Taylor Rooks that it was simply disbelief that he was drafted. Credit to her for immediately asking the question over what was definitely one of the more awkward draft night situations we’ve seen in recent memory.

“WTF for sure. WTF all the way till my name got called. Man, it was crazy. But geez I almost shed a tear. But I tried to keep my composure. It’s surreal. I dreamed of this when I was a kid. You never know you’re going to be there until you’re there so it’s crazy,” Murray-Boyles said.

The Raptors then posted this picture from the former South Carolina star with a beaming smile on his face after being selected.

Finally, Murray-Boyles met with the Toronto media after being picked by the Raptors and was once again asked about his expletive right off the top.

“Just disbelief, you know. Toronto was probably my first team that I worked out for. What I said was not a bad thing by any means, just very thankful for it. That was a surreal moment to hear my name called, and by this organization that has a good history and has really good players as of right now. It was just a crazy moment. Obviously thankful for the opportunity that they’ve given me and taking it full on and ready to do whatever they need me to do,” Murray-Boyles said.

Thankfully this looks one international crisis that ended before it began.

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