Morning Coffee – Sun, Jun 23

A random press conference and a hard no to the white house.

by

Danny Green says ‘hard no’ to Raptors visiting White House | Larry Brown Sports

“I just don’t think that we accept,” Green said. “And I try to respect everybody in every field, regardless of how crazy things are. But he makes it very hard. He makes it very, very tough to respect how he goes about things and does things. But I’ll put it politely — it’s a hard no.”

The Raptors would be continuing the tradition of NBA teams skipping a visit with Trump. The Warriors started the trend by saying they didn’t want to visit. The Philadelphia Eagles did not attend after winning the Super Bowl. In all those cases, Trump petulantly rescinded invitations after the players expressed disinterest in attending. In the Eagles’ case, the visit was reportedly cancelled to avoid embarrassing the president. The president’s divisive politics also led to numerous Red Sox figures not attending their celebration.

Players have shown their beliefs in the past by not attending the White House under previous administrations, but the style and political beliefs of Trump have led to much more contention than ever before, which is on display with Green’s comments.

Steph Curry shares thoughts on Masai Ujiri-deputy NBA Finals incident | NBCS Bay Area

“You know what’s crazy? I saw him after,” Curry told The Times. “I didn’t know anything about this situation. But looking back, I saw his face and I could tell something had happened.”

Over the last few weeks, varying sides of the story have come out. The Alameda Country Sheriff’s Office told NBC Sports Washington that Ujiri struck and pushed the deputy as he tried to gain access to the Oracle Arena floor to celebrate the Raptors’ championship win.

Later, an eyewitness told the Associated Press that Ujiri never struck the deputy. Then, this week, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office showed images to the The Globe and Mail newspaper depicting an altercation between Ujiri and the deputy.

Curry, surprisingly, brought race into the equation.

“If he didn’t do anything wrong, obviously, you’d hope that it was handled in a better fashion,” Curry told The Times. “Especially for a guy that was going out and trying to celebrate with his team that had done something historical. So I don’t know if that was a white G.M. or whatever, if that’s handled differently. You can always play the what-if game.”

Are Drake And Kahwi Leonard Friends?

Drake has much respect for what Leonard has brought to the Toronto Raptors. However, it’s unclear whether the two of them consider each other friends or not.

They definitely have very different personalities. Drake is known to put his feelings and emotions out there a lot, whether it is through his songs or on the courtside as he watches the Raptors play. The rapper also seems to enjoy being in the spotlight and having many admirers on social media.

On the contrary, Leonard is perceived to be quite emotionless at times. His shy personality often means that he keeps to himself more and does not go around seeking attention from other people. The 27-year-old forward even shared that he does not have social media accounts.

The fact that they are quite different from each other has made some fans believe that they could be feuding. During a game against the Golden State Warriors a few weeks ago, many people watching thought that Leonard snubbed Drake by ignoring his high-five.

Cigar-smoking Raptors set bad example for their young fans | The Star

I am 100 per cent a Raptors fan and was overjoyed that history was made. Those guys deserved it — the hard work, determination, heart break, injuries, horrible referees and everything in between.

However, I was disappointed to see the players make the decision to smoke their traditional celebratory cigars throughout the parade route. The same parade route that many of their young fans would see. Young fans who look up and admire them.

The decision for youth to start smoking has been linked to several key factors, including characteristics such as age and sex, the immediate social environment and the broader social environment such as school and community. Teens in the 15 to 17 age group share several characteristics that appear to strongly influence the probability they will start smoking.

How the Raptors Developed an Elite NBA Team | The Sports Daily

The Rise of an Elite Basketball Team
The year is 2015, and the Toronto Raptors, with the new found bench depth, were a 56-point team at the end of the season and managed to find themselves in the Conference Finals before they fell short to the Cleveland Cavaliers. This brings us to the 2016 draft where the Toronto Raptors had two first-rounders, one of which was Jakob Poeltl while the second was Pascal Siakam. A couple of weeks later, the Toronto Raptors added even more depth to the bench by obtaining Fred VanVleet.

Masai Ujiri had to make more improvements on his team to cover his weakest positions. He found himself yet again looking for a somewhat credulous team to help him get exactly what he needed by trading Terence Ross. Fortunately, Orlando Magic helped him out significantly. For whatever reason, Orlando Magic decided to take a huge risk by trading away Victor Oladipo to receive Serge Ibaka for a year. So, Masai Ujiri took advantage of this opportunity yet again by trading Terence Ross and receiving Serge Ibaka. This wasn’t enough during the playoffs as the Toronto Raptors yet again fell short for the second consecutive season against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This brings us to the 2017 draft where the Toronto Raptors had a first-round pick which materialized in the form of OG Anunoby. He was tasked to take care of LeBron James during the playoffs, but this didn’t end too well for the Toronto Raptors as they yet again lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers for their third consecutive season. This left Masai Ujiri with a very difficult decision as he already did his part of obtaining a glorious roster of players but somehow still missed the mark during the post-season. Therefore, in the summer of 2018, more changes needed to be made. He decided to fire Dwayne Casey and promote Nick Nurse as the new head coach of the team and made a decision on DeMar DeRozan at the same time.

Ada Fisher: Lessons from an NBA championship team – Salisbury Post | Salisbury Post

The composition of the Toronto Raptors has many lessons for present-day existence that are easily written off because this is simply a basketball team.

First is the club’s president, Masai Ujuri, an English-born Nigerian professional who was a gambler and tossed the dice. Ujuri first fired Coach of the Year Dwane Casey in favor of little-known Nick Nurse, who had risen through the ranks of the G League. Second, he went after Kawhi Leonard, the much-maligned San Antonio Spurs forward who said he was injured and wasn’t ready to play in his final season there.

The rest of the team was built around role players whose talents were well known though they were not. Fred VanVleet, true to his Wichita State training, became a shocker to the basketball establishment with defense and spectacular floor positioning. Kyle Lowry, who seemed to be a dormant seven-year team veteran, rose to the rank of floor general in finding his game; he was the right man at the right time for the right shot. Danny Green was a 2013 NBA champion who took his Tar Heel gumption into the pros as he joined forces with Leonard to provide experience among a mesh of odd fellows. Serge Ibaka, from a Congolese-Spanish background, understands defense and capitalized on his height and quickness. There was Marc Gasol, of a Spanish background. And rising star Pascal Siakam, from the Cameroon in the heart of Africa, said he was learning and getting better every game.

The NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptures was some of the finest basketball series since the days of the Boston Celtics with Red Auerbach and Bill Russell.

Pick and rolls, midrange shots, finding the open man, fast breaks or setting screens were all concepts that I heard and watched from the bleachers at North Carolina Central University as Johnny B. McClendon (the first black professional basketball coach) coached my favorite player, Hall of Famer Sam Jones, who would win 10 championship rings with his sweet 15-footers and game-clinching shots.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse plays guitar at Arkells concert in Toronto – Sportsnet.ca

It’s been quite the year for Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse.

He, of course, won an NBA championship as a rookie NBA head coach, he’s going to coach Team Canada at the forthcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup and now he can call himself a rockstar — sort of.

On Saturday night, noted Raptors fans Arkells brought Nurse up on stage to perform with them during their show at Budweiser Stage in Toronto.

Raptors’ Green thinks percentage of Kawhi Leonard staying is ‘higher’ – Sportsnet.ca

Green, who was traded with Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs last July, seems optimistic about the Raptors’ prospects of convincing the defending Finals MVP of staying in Canada.

“I don’t know the percentage [of chance that he stays],” Green said during the event Saturday. “But i think it’s a higher percentage for him to be here than to leave.”

Leonard has been showered with attention everywhere he’s been during the off-season while Toronto Raptors fans — old and new — spend leisurely hours musing over the superstar’s impending free agency and where he’s playing next year.

Raptors fans have launched countless campaigns and made infinite promises to try and get Leonard to stay in Toronto, including free meals and a free trip to Barbados. Toronto mayor John Tory went as far as to suggest he would step down as mayor if it meant the All-Star would stay. Tory was also at the forefront of KawhiUShouldStay.com, which allows fans to sign a petition and leave comments for Leonard.

“The city, the fans have done their job, the organization’s done their job. it’s going to be a hard place to turn down,” said Green. “[You] have a great team and have a city, people, fans that love you and are willing to give you damn near everything. And a condo… and some food… and a plane… and dessert after that, who knows.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByrRgmrhF89/

Images show Masai Ujiri-deputy altercation, Canadian newspaper reports

The aftermath of the Raptors’ NBA Finals win over the Warriors was marred in controversy.

After Toronto defeated the Golden State in Game 6 at Oracle Arena on June 13, Raptors president Masai Ujiri allegedly struck and pushed a sheriff’s deputy while trying to access the floor after the Raptors’ title-winning victory.

A witness has claimed that Ujiri didn’t strike the deputy, but the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office showed The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, still images that show there indeed was an altercation between Ujiri and the deputy. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t allow The Globe and Mail to publish the photos or view full videos.

‘[We wanted] to show that a crime did occur when people are saying that … there was no strike to the face, when in fact there was,” spokesperson Sgt. Ray Kelly said. “We’ve done it in a way that can still let the investigation take place without contaminating the witness pool.”

According to The Globe and Mail, one of the photos shows Ujiri with arms raised and outstretched, his hands clenched, appearing to strike the deputy.

The Raptors declined to comment on the images.

The Sheriff’s Office claims that Ujiri told the deputy he was the president of the Raptors and flashed an NBA credential backward, but did not have the yellow armband or purple badge required to access the court. Officials allege that Ujiri pushed and struck the deputy in the face after he refused to let the executive on the court.

Body camera footage showed to The Globe and Mail reportedly shows Ujiri with no credentials in his hand or around his neck.

Danny Green, Fred VanVleet keep Raptors’ party train rolling | CBC Sports

For Danny Green and the Raptors, the party rages on.

Mixing a bit of work with pleasure, the shooting guard was back in Toronto to celebrate, among other things, the teams’ historic NBA championship victory with fans, during a live taping of his podcast Inside the Green Room with Danny Green at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

But Green and co-host Harrison Sanford weren’t the only ones in the spotlight. Superfan Nav Bhatia took the stage, waving a wrestling championship belt. Chanting ‘Let’s Go Raptors’, Nav stirred up the crowd with a rather intimate confession.

“Guys you all know for 24 years I have never missed a game. I have never been late. I have never left late. I can brag about all those things. But guys, when it comes to my married life it’s hanging by a very, very thin string.”

Toronto begs fans to leave Kawhi Leonard alone | Sporting News

“I want to put a request in the media right now because our superstar, Kawhi Leonard, he’s going out in the city and he’s being, like, paparazzi, he’s being harassed. You know, followed. We’re not giving him the space, which he deserves to have the space. We have won the championship. NBA champions, we are. Let him enjoy the city right now, let him enjoy his privacy right now with his family. Just leave him alone, let him enjoy the city,” Bhatia said.

“Please, when you see him somewhere, don’t run after him for the pictures or anything. Just say thank you to him for getting us the championship, being part of the team which got us the championship. Because you all fans, you were also a part of getting the championship, you played a big role. But right now, I want you to play a bigger role.”

Previous: Weekend Open Thread
Next: The Front of the Jersey