One year in, Raptors’ Khem Birch still taking in playing for his ‘home’ team
Posted April 10, 2022 11:49 am.
Last Updated April 10, 2022 11:53 am.
It’s been exactly 365 days since Montreal’s Khem Birch joined the Toronto Raptors after being waived by the Orlando Magic. The following day on April 11, 2021, he made his debut for Canada’s only NBA team getting four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action during a 102–96 loss to the New York Knicks.
On Sunday night Birch and the Raptors will be playing their final regular-season game against the same team Birch made his Raptors debut against a year ago.
“Besides my injuries, I think everything’s good,” Birch told CityNews. “I’m doing what I love to do playing for my home country’s team, so I can’t ask for anything better than that.”
Birch is choosing to see the positive side of the season, a season which started with him missing part of training camp because he and his family were battling COVID-19. He broke his nose forcing him to miss 10 games, missed another 15 games throughout the season because of swelling in his right knee, and he also lost a tooth during a game in March against the Spurs but came back to play.
“I’m lucky that not all my injuries have been too serious, for me to say ‘no, I don’t want to play basketball.’ I’ve been pretty lucky.”
GET ????
SIAKAM ↗️ BIRCH pic.twitter.com/eZZT16SwHN
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 9, 2022
When the 29-year-old isn’t on the court putting back a nice dish from Pascal Siakam, like he did vs the Rockets on Friday, the self-proclaimed homebody is listening to something that gave and will continue to give a lot of people nightmares.
“I’m reading, well technically I’m not really reading it, but I’m listening to Stephen King’s book It on audible.”
“I like just hearing the guy’s voice, it’s creepy and it’s a good story. It’s one thing to watch it visually but it’s good to hear it so you can visualize it on your own.”
The Raptors had a rough season last year playing in Tampa, failing to make it to the postseason for the first time since 2013. Birch will get his first taste of Raptors playoff action, potentially as early as Saturday. Toronto will face either the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, with the exact match up and schedule confirmed after all games are completed Sunday night.
