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Raptors Make NBA Finals!

By Max Nisbeth, 06/07/19, 12:45PM EDT

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What a win would mean for Toronto


It almost feels like an understatement to say that this is the greatest season in Raptors franchise history. On the cusp of such a revolutionary time in human history, many people are quick to cast aside sport in its association with a time that is all too archaic. Sports are considered by many to be a hub for toxic masculinity, a pedestal for unrealistic body types, and “not all that important". And while those have their legitimacies we are seeing in the streets of Toronto, the rest of Canada, and the World, the potential unification of sport. A sports team has the potential to be the physical representation of a city's heart and soul. Whether the team wins or loses it can illustrate the strength of the city and the type of people who cheer for it. We, as Torontonians, are the types of folks to invest our blood, sweat, and tears into a team that hasn’t won the Stanley Cup in over 50 years. We are the types of folks who will pack an arena whether we have a Superstar, a star, or a bunch of ghosts of draft picks past. We are the types of folks that will give our entire hearts just for them to be ripped out each and every year. This city has taken blow after blow but never wavered. It doesn’t get the media attention it deserves, it’s in a country that doesn’t get respected, and it harbors the only international teams across three of the four major US sports. But we’ll be in Jurassic Park. We’ll wait there in the rain. And win or lose, we’ll be back. Winning is great but at the end of the day, the title of NBA champions is only part of the dream. Winning the NBA Finals would mean this city would finally get its stamp on something we consume, watch, and dream about every day: American culture. We would be winning at a game that they’ve taken and become the best in the world at. We would be bringing basketball home - to where it started. Toronto would be global, and fellow Toronto inhabitants would get the one thing they’ve dreamed of their entire lives: for the world to fall in love with the city that we all have sewn to our hearts. But this isn’t just about a city. The Raptors don’t just play for a city, they play for a country.


The Carter Effect (dir. Sean Menard) is going to pale in comparison to what this Raptors run is doing. During our most recent Youth Day, you heard and felt the inspiration emanating off every player, either from their Raps gear or every other sentence they spoke, which went along the lines of “Can you believe the Raptors are in the Finals?” Many of our Girls Competitive players who were interviewed by the CBC described how these players were their role models. There is a generation of players who will emerge from this run - who got into basketball because of this team, because of these players, and because of these fans. Any passion you pursue is because you start as a fan, journey to becoming a player, inspire new fans, and repeat the cycle. We are proud and honored to be one of the places for such young people to chase their basketball dreams both in sport and in life. But hopefully, we’re just one wheel in this movement of new players and fans. Hopefully, our community can grow alongside the Canadian basketball one as we not only usher in a new era for basketball, but also for Toronto.


As a city and country that isn’t too patriotic and doesn’t unite around much of anything, it has been amazing to see the love and togetherness that this run has brought out of every Canadian. Basketball may be international but Toronto is also international, and this team represents that. It shows that Canadians come in every shape, size, ethnicity, and background and that diversity is not just a strength of the Raptors but of our city. This team has done the one thing hockey has never been able to do - represent the people they play for. Here is a sport that is dominantly played by athletes who look like many of their fans. For a city and country of immigrants, it is here where we can truly inspire a generation to achieve above and beyond society’s own expectations of them, and set new standards. Basketball World Toronto is the only basketball league in the city to offer a women’s only competitive league. That isn’t good enough. But we have to make those changes in order to make new expectations. At BWT, we also look to support players inside and outside of our league who lack the resources to pursue sports the way those who are more fortunate are able to do. Through our most recent Youth Day raffle we donated half of the proceeds to Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart charity that aims to do exactly that - provide all children the opportunity to enact their own Raptors dream. Sports have their problems, but through initiatives like SameGame we can try and solve them. It’s teams like the Raptors that inspire us to be better.


Because it has been a journey. 24 years is a long time. From being a joke that paraded purple dinosaurs to free agency exile, we haven't let any expectations get in our way. This path has had many lows, many tears, and even more heartbreaks. But we’re still here. In fact, we are two wins away from winning the flipping NBA Finals! We have earned this as a franchise, as a fan base, and, more importantly, as a city. This is our time. Let’s bring basketball home. Let’s go Raptors!