This Toronto Raptor is building his own empire off the court

Toronto Raptors player, Thad Young, says, “I’ve got a good team,.”

At first read, you would think Young is talking about his teammates on the Raptors, and while the oldest member of the squad feels that about his team, he is actually talking about the people who are helping him operate the ‘Thad Young empire’ away from the court.

The 33-year-old has his own real estate company, private investment firm, as well as a trucking company.

“I go from one job to the next every single day,” Young told CityNews.

“At the end of the day, basketball is great it has put me in a position to work and be successful, but I can’t play basketball the rest of my life,” he said, “So I can be preparing myself for all of the different things outside of basketball, which is you know, running a trucking company, having a real estate company, having a venture firm, and you know, doing all the different things that we do on the business side.”

This isn’t something the Louisiana native just started to think about as the Raptors near the end of their regular season with less than a dozen games left on the schedule.

“I’ve always been one of those guys that has always kind of been wondrous, or like wanting to venture into different avenues and stuff like that. So it’s really put me in a position where I can open my mind a little bit more and see everything that’s out there,” Young said.

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Just over a month into his trade from the San Antonio Spurs to the Raptors, the father of two is still settling into his role and new home.

“I’ve been able to settle in a little bit, the team has done a good job of putting me in a position to where I can actually be someone that actually make sure that I’m ready for games,” he said, “and my wife has been amazing she has the kids set up for homeschool and has everything ready so that all I have to do is worry about basketball.”

This is Young’s seventh NBA team since being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 12th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

“Being in my 15th season, I’ve seen a lot of things, I’ve done a lot of stuff. I’ve carved out a really good role for myself and a really good name for myself,” Young said, “I want to come in and help us and I want to make sure that you know, these young guys are doing what they’re supposed to do as players.”

One of the players Young has been working with is the NBA’s Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month for February, Scottie Barnes.

Barnes earned his 11th double-double of the season and a career-high of 31 points and 17 rebounds on Friday night against the Lakers.

“I was talking to Scottie the other day as we were watching games,” Young said, “just telling him like, ‘Hey, you got to do this, you got to do that.’ It’s always just helping him and making sure that you know, he’s getting better as an individual player, but also make sure that he’s growing his game. He’s developing his mind as well.”

While he has high praise for his team on the business side of his life away from the court, Young is getting high praise from his Raptors teammates since he has been a part of the roster for just over 30 days.

“He understands the game and he’s been in the league for a while,” Precious Achiuwa said just a few games into Youngs’ time with the Raptors.

It's been just over one month since Thad Young was traded to the #Raptors. Had the chance to speak to him today before their game in #LA about how he feels he has impacted the team and his hopes for Flynn, Barnes, Achiuwa. #NBA pic.twitter.com/z8dWuJ95OM

— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) March 14, 2022

“I’m very observant of people and I learned a lot just by watching him. Anything he would say I would go up to him and ask, ‘Hey, what did you see or what did you think happened there and what could I have done?’ He always was willing to share whatever he saw or thought. Just having that veteran leadership in the locker room is important and I’ve learned a lot from him personally,” Achiuwa said.

Achiuwa had 18 points and five rebounds off the bench Friday against the Lakers and has now scored in double figures in a career-high six straight games. Young has truly enjoyed watching Achiuwa’s game explode this last month.

“Precious is a really good one. He is very athletic and he understands how to go out and use that presence and sometimes we have to think about it in a different way and with a different mindset and that’s what I’m trying to get him to do as well,” Young said. “I’m just helping these guys think the game as opposed to just play the game because that’s two different things. And they’ve been doing really, really well. I mean, since I’ve gotten here Precious’ game is also another level and so has Scotties.”

“It’s good to see these young guys being able to go out there and play and just have fun, and continuously get better because, you know, my time is almost up, I don’t know how many more years I’m going to play,” Young said.

Young said it’s his job to help the guys continue to develop their games so they can have a long and successful career he had.

Something else Thad loves — being a sneakerhead.

“I probably was only able to bring about 20 pairs,” Young said about how many shoes made the trip north of the boarder when he was traded.

“I’m not bringing 40 pairs like PJ Tucker did to the bubble (laughs) but I do love sneakers. That’s one of my passions outside of everything else that I do. But I try to get the stuff that I really like because it’s more about quality than quantity,” he said.

When asked how many pairs he had, Young answered, “hundreds.”