By now you surely have seen the Toronto Raptors magical 2013/14 season. Maybe you started paying attention when the team started to come together after the Rudy Gay trade to overtake first place in the Atlantic Division. Or maybe you gave them a chance when you saw DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross participated in the NBA All Star Weekend with DeRozan representing the East as an All Star and Ross' putting down one of the best dunks in the contest on a through the legs alley-oop assisted by rapper Drake, who you may have been convinced to watch the Raptors by as the new "Global Ambassador" of the team.
Perhaps you noticed when the Toronto Raptors didn't fade down the stretch, continuing their exciting play and habit of providing memorable finishes into the spring as they became Atlantic Division champions for the first time since the 2006-07 season, outlasting the star studded Brooklyn Nets to win the crown.
Or maybe you have finally been forced to give the Raptors respect during their first round series with those very Nets. A series where Toronto and the country have embraced the team like never before, even in the days when the team's arguably greatest superstar in Vince Carter perhaps gave the team a larger profile south of the border but never quite built the type of passion surrounding the team's successes and failures as we have seen through four games of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
From the sold out Air Canada Centre being a cauldron of Canadian basketball passion despite the Raptors holding some of the league's highest ticket prices, something that hasn't stopped the hardcore Raptors faithful from enjoying themselves outside of the ACC much like Toronto Maple Leafs fans did last year when their team ended their long playoff streak. Making Maple Leaf Square their own, "Raptors Square" has been the most unique aspect of the NBA Playoffs from a fan's perspective.
While American cities have great NBA fanbases across the country in places that have earned their homecourt advantage reputation in Golden State and Oklahoma City, the spectacle of witnessing fans willing to watch the game outside of the arena and having more fun than anybody has helped to show that Canada's love for the game of basketball is greater than our country would want you to believe.
Basketball has always been the number two winter sport to hockey in Canada. There is no glory being a basketball player as a teenager in most Canadian cities with our country's obsession with hockey, but thanks to nearly 20 years of NBA basketball in this country the game has exploded at the grassroots level to the point where our country is now becoming a pipeline for talent that is coveted south of the border.
Sure, most of those players leave for American prep schools and almost assuredly leave to play in the NCAA but they have all helped grow Canada's name on the big stage over the past few years. From Tristan Thompson to Anthony Bennett being highly touted draft picks in Cleveland to NCAA stars Andrew Wiggins and Nik Stauskas perhaps becoming Canada's next superstar ballers much has already been made and said about our country's rise as a growing basketball nation.
Having college stars and potential NBA talents only does so much for Canada's interest in the NBA however and the Raptors shrtcomings of recent years definitely did not help sell the game. Struggling to find an identity under Canadian head coach Jay Triano and with failures in forcing European talents into the roster with Andrea Bargnani, Hedo Turkoglu and Linas Klezia to name a few in a good hearted attempt to reach out to Toronto's large melting point of European cultures, the Raptors decided to make a switch in philosophy heading into the 2013/14 season when they fired general manager Bryan Colangelo to hire respected roster builder Masai Ujiri for what many expected to be a long term rebuild of a franchise that was seemingly doomed to always falling short in a weak Eastern Conference.
Gone was Rudy Gay, a well documented volume shooter who stopped the Raptors ball movement and Bargnani whose reputation for being "soft" made his departure a welcome one. In came a package of role players in Grevis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson that filled in the Raptors rotation, but most importantly allowed fan favorites in Kyle Lowry, DeRozan, Ross, Amir Johnson and center Jonas Valanciuanas more playing time and freedom to turn the Raptors into their own identity.
That identity has grown on the country, a take no prisoners leave everything on the floor attitude that fits how Canadian basketball is played across the country. Physical, never back down, team first play that you will find in Toronto gyms, in Saskatchewan high school basketball tournaments, or on outdoor courts in Vancouver. A brand of basketball tough enough to earn the respect of veteran superstars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and a type of passion that fans never felt from former starts in Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and especially Andrea Bargnani.
With a potential classic series tied at 2-2 heading back to Toronto for Game Five it is clear that Canada finally has a team that captures the heart and passion of a nation's love for a sport. Not just because they are "Canada's Team" and they are all that we have, but because the Toronto Raptors are a symbol of Canadian basketball regardless of what nationality of players that are on the court.
During a week where the NBA has adopted "We Are One" in light of disgraced racist Clippers owner Donald Sterling there is perhaps no team that embodies the concept of "oneness" than the Raptors. A team playing for an entire country of basketball fans. A country of immigrants and fans of all races. A country that love a game and a team that despite being the country's only NBA team are still our best kept secret and one that is finally getting shared with the rest of our country with the perfect blend of players to do it. Regardless of how the series ends, Toronto (and Canada's) love for the game has been heard.
