Toronto Raptors take centre stage on NBA media day
Posted May 29, 2019 5:43 pm.
Last Updated May 29, 2019 8:06 pm.
Scotiabank Arena was a buzz, it’s the day before the biggest game in Raptors franchise history: Game 1 of the NBA Finals. A stage they have never been on before, but before they step on that stage they had to step on another stage… a circus stage.
Wednesday was NBA Finals media day where almost 500 media outlets from around the world gathered to shine the light on the two teams that have made it to the Finals.
“It’s surreal, we all dream of a championship. We all think of it,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said about making it to the Finals after the drama that followed when he traded DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. “I think the change was hard at the time but we knew the kind of player we were going to get and knew if we overcame all the issues we were dealing with, we were all positive of this kind of moment.”
The Toronto Raptors will meet Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. The Raptors making their first appearance in the Finals while this marks the Warriors fifth appearance in as many years.
“The last four years they’ve been knocking on the door,” Curry said about meeting the Raptors in the Finals. “You always keep up with what’s going on in the other conference through every playoff run and chase.”
Media day is full of unique moments from a Norman Powell being asked to do maple syrup shots to Warriors player Klay Thompson being asked if he would avoid playing Drake music during the Finals.
“If it is a bad song I’m going to skip it,” Thompson said with a smile. “If it’s a good song I’ll listen, but if it’s one of his soft R&B songs I’m going to skip it because I’m in kill mode.”
Game 3 of the NBA Finals will air on CityTV.
