It’s difficult to find worthy ways to relive the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship. You can watch the games again, sure, or even video of the parade. You can buy outrageous amounts of championship merch. Arguably more effective, though, is reliving the thrill through the definitive book on the subject. Alex Wong and Sean Woodley co-authored a commemorative book – titled We the Champs – that captures every detail of the Raptors’ hike to the summit. Most highs are difficult to recapture after the first experience, but We the Champs takes you through the extreme mood swings that are natural to seasoned Raptors’ fans.
If you’ve ever consumed Raptors’ content outside of Raptors Republic, you’ll likely know the names Alex Wong and Sean Woodley. Alex is known for his infinite creativity and outrageous list of high-profile bylines, including this piece at the New York Times capturing the value of Jeremy Lin’s championship. Alex’s work has always been about the culture and meaning inherent to the sport. Sean has made his name through humour, thoroughness, and back-breaking labour. Who else would rank ever Raptor to have ever donned the jersey?
Both are exceptional choices to have written the book on the Raptors’ championship. The publisher, Triumph Books, actually reached out to Alex in 2016 in case the Raptors won the championship then, but of course it was not to be. This year, the plans were laid once the Raptors actually reached the Finals. When Alex realized the quantity of work involved, he reached out to Sean because he wanted the latter’s voice and skills in the project. Though Sean pushed to call the book “It’s Fine,” he was the one who eventually pitched “We the Champs.”
“I know he has a good pulse on the team,” said Alex. “[It was great] to get someone to have a knowledge of what’s happening the whole season, and be able to encapsulate it. The first person I thought of was Sean.”
The two didn’t actually know the Raptors were going to win the title while they wrote most of the book. They had to have the majority of the book finished before the buzzer sounded on the final win over the Warriors, and they knew that if the Raptors didn’t win, the book would not be published. It didn’t sink in that the Raptors would win until they won games two and three in Oracle.
“When they went up 3-1, it was like, oh my god, this book is going to actually happen,” Alex said. “We needed them to win because the book is going to publish. When they won, it was just a relief.”
The relief extended beyond the confines of We the Champs. Even though Alex and Sean are the authors, the book wouldn’t be complete without contributions from Jack Armstrong. When asked, he was only too willing to help. Alex called him with a list of questions, ready to prompt and prod, and Armstrong launched into a 20-minute monologue before the call was seconds old. The resultant foreward is about Canada, and winning, and is pure Jack Armstrong.
We the Champs begins with Masai Ujiri’s press conference at the beginning of the year. The entire introduction hinges on Ujiri’s famous quote, “believe in this city. Believe in yourself.” That belief, that mantra, forms the foundation of this championship.
“[We believe] was always going to be the introduction to anything,” Alex said. “Masai set the narrative for this whole season. Obviously, it’s something that you would forget if you were bounced in the second round, but he really laid it out. He told the city to believe.”
“That’s been the through line for the whole season,” added Sean.
From there, Alex and Sean start in the finals themselves before moving back through the playoffs to the regular season. Interwoven are features about all the key figures. Because many of the sections were written before Alex and Sean knew the Raptors would win the championship, the nuance of the season’s highs and lows are integral to the book. When Kawhi Leonard hit the four-bouncing game-winner over the Philadelphia 76ers, the elation and relief captured by Sean is palpable. When the Sixers beat the Raptors in game three to take a 2-1 lead, Sean notes the “kick in the teeth” we felt at the time.
“I wanted to capture the mindset of the fan, and how it was constant swings of emotion throughout the postseason,” said Sean. “That Sixers series in particular, I’m going back and watching the games, and reliving my own personal torment.”
“You’ve got to capture those moments as stand-alone moments. [Game three versus Philadelphia] was a real crisis point. I want anyone who’s reading it to be able to follow the journey,” Alex added.
Above all, We the Champs is a work of love. It captures the highs and lows. The authors love their work, taking great pride in the product. But they love the Raptors. They spent lifetimes waiting for the Raptors to win a championship, and it was only fitting that they would commemorate not only the win itself, but also our experience of it.
“People that have read myself and Sean know how much care we take into the work we do,” said Alex. “Especially when writing about something like the Raptors, it’s something near and dear to our hearts… I like to think that both of us took that passion and put it into this book.”
“We gave a shit about the team,” said Sean. “We care about the team a lot. A lot of our time is spent thinking and talking and writing about this team.”
We the Champs is a significant commemoration of the the Raptors, and it’s been incredibly popular already. It’s listed at number one for basketball books on Amazon Canada and number six among all books. At one point, it was sandwiched between books by Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. That’s an achievement that Alex and Sean will be hard-pressed to top in their sequel next year.
