Jason Peters, the former boys’ basketball coach at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn., has been having friends over to watch the NBA Finals on a giant projection screen on his porch.
He used to organize these types of watch parties when the Grizzlies were in the playoffs. But in the wake of another suboptimal season, countless Memphians like Peters are rooting for another team this spring: the Toronto Raptors.
In fact, there may be no greater base of support for the Raptors outside Canada than in Memphis, a city that remains invested in the success of Marc Gasol, the Raptors’ starting centre.