The NBA Finals weren’t supposed to begin like this, with the perceived underdog Raptors leading the dynastic Golden State Warriors 1-0. And that’s just fine with Toronto, who’s basking in a rapturous “We the North” moment with their rising basketball team ahead of tonight’s Game 2.
Call it love, fanaticism or pride, but the city — and most of Canada — is dripping with it right now, baby. The enthusiasm is being plastered on walls, screamed out by long-suffering fans, even baked into pies. Perhaps no one deserves as much credit for the team’s new-found status as Masai Ujiri, the Raptors’ Nigerian-born president, who made a couple controversial decisions last year.