Before DeMar DeRozan was named an All-Star in 2014, the Toronto Raptors had gone since the departure of Chris Bosh in 2010 without one. They’d gone even longer since a playoff berth.
Now, DeRozan and teammate Kyle Lowry are two-time All-Stars, hosting Bosh and the rest of the NBA universe for All-Star Weekend in Toronto, right as the Raptors are in the midst of their third consecutive “is this the best season in franchise history” campaign. For his part, Bosh remembers the city fondly but can’t help but marvel at how far its come as a basketball power.
“I wish I could have experienced it more, for sure,” Bosh said at All-Star media day Friday. “After my first playoff experience with the team, I’m like, ‘yo, we have to do this every year.’ For whatever reason, we just couldn’t put it together. Now for these guys to be able to experience that, it’s fantastic…They’re putting this city on the map and they’re doing a great job with it.”
With success at the team level has come greater viability as a marketable team and city. Success at the individual level has helped a great deal, too, with the Raptors’ pair of affable stars carrying center stage this weekend. Maybe Toronto would have wound up hosting the All-Star Game regardless, with general manager Masai Ujiri proving too formidable a force not to acquiesce too, but back-to-back playoff appearances and a genuine feeling of upward momentum certainly made it an easier sell.
Again, this is something Bosh didn’t really get to experience while here, with his years in the city coming during one of the leanest stretches in the franchise’s oft-moribund history.
“We used to scratch and claw for ESPN games,” Bosh said. “And now they get ’em constantly. And that’s a great thing…Now the All-Star Game is here and once again basketball is put on a platform for the city to show, and I think it’s going to be a great thing for the city, and it’s going to continue to grow.”
The growth and momentum of the franchise aren’t perceptible only to former Raptors. Dwyane Wade, Draymond Green, and LaMarcus Aldridge, among others, were asked about the altered image of Toronto as a basketball city. “I love Toronto,” Kevin Durant said. The city drew comparisons to Chicago and New York, players referenced the #WeTheNorth slogan – and if you ever wanted proof that this bit of branding and marketing was enormously successful, this weekend is already providing plenty – and, of course, Drake got ample credit for helping put the city and team on the map, so to speak.
That might draw eye rolls. It shouldn’t. Drake’s presence as the team’s global ambassador is a little ambiguous, but he’s become synonymous with the city and with the Raptors, the hirsute, ever-smiling face of both. His ascension has been timed serendipitously with the re-ascension of the Raptors, such that the rise of each have become symbiotic, Drake pushing the Raptors brand higher and the success of the Raptors lending cache to Drake’s 6ix-centric lyrics and branding. It all feels old and familiar now, the obvious crescendo of visibility that All-Star weekend presents serving mostly for those outside of the bubble. Drake may as well have been speaking to Bosh when he rapped “I swear, you don’t know this city anymore.”
None of this is nearly as big without Lowry and DeRozan at the forefront, though. That much is clear. Lowry got the NBA TV treatment as the Eastern Conference had their media session, and save for a brief interruption from his counterpart across the room – “Somebody shut his mic off!” – DeRozan was tasked with one of the longest scrums of the day. They’ll draw the loudest cheers on Sunday, non-Kobe Bryant division, and they’ll act as the vanguard for the city and franchise all weekend long.
The East: Raptors, current and former.
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“Yeah. This is our home,” DeRozan said of playing host. “Everybody keeps teasing us and saying we’re the Canadians on the team and what not. It’s definitely cool, just to be out here and have fun with all of the guys. If they’ve got any questions or any helping hands, we’ll try to be there for them.”
Lowry downplayed his role as liaison beyond warnings about traffic and making a few calls to restaurants on the behalf of others. Not surprisingly, he’s understating his importance to the entire spectacle with his claims of keeping it “low-key.” He might not be facilitating the post-event club scene, but pairing with DeRozan to create just the second Raptors All-Star duo ever is far more meaningful than curating guest lists. The Raptors are well-represented as they host the world, which could be just as big a factor in continuing the upward momentum of the city and the franchise.
“I think the first time is always special, but now it’s home,” Lowry said. “My hometown and where I play every night and what I represent about the team. It’s great. There’s an excitement and a buzz around the city and there’s a buzz around me and my family and my friends, and especially a buzz for me and DeMar. It’s a special time.
“It means the world, man.”
This weekend, they’re the center of that world.
