The Toronto Raptors & The Bouncing Ball

The Bouncing Ball

In the past month, the bouncing ball has brought great joy to the loyal fans of the Toronto Raptors. We the North were consumed by the swish of the net-laced hoop and the prospect of becoming NBA champions. Ultimately the Raptors achieved that goal.

Torontonians, and Canadians, from coast to coast cheered, drank and ate their way into an unprecedented show of euphoric emotion. Drake unabashedly led the cheer by the sidelines, and after the Raptors secured the NBA championship, he announced that the bouncing ball had inspired new music and song.

We have immediately transformed individual players into iconic heroes and role models. The quiet and mysterious Kawhi Leonard somehow reflective of Canada’s polite nature. 

There are suggestions that we the North have become united in our citizenry and become better people because of the bouncing ball. The puck failed in its attempt to garner local victory for the Stanley Cup starved Maple Leaf team, or the Jets, Oilers, Canadiens, Senators, Canucks and Flames. Perhaps the names of our National Hockey League teams simply lack a predator-type name, like the Raptors. They say there is something in a name.

On the baseball stage, the Blue Jay has become synonymous with the tragic tale of "To Kill a Mocking Bird", and while the St Louis "Blues" brought home Lord Stanley, we the north have instead “muddied the waters”.

Did it take a predominantly Black basketball team to baptize Canadian ethnic diversity and challenge the status quo, or was it the passion of a super-fan named Nav Bhatia, who revelled in the victory, and concluded that his next step would be to thank his Hindu God for having brought him endless joy.

And what about Kawhi Leonard - leaving his potential return to the championship Raptor team a mystery. If Kawhi does not return he will certainly miss the grand opportunity that awaits him here in Canada. Rather than being just a superstar, Kawhi is now ready to have his humble personality illuminated by the greatness of Canadian culture. His future in Canada will mean more than just money and stardom. He will have the opportunity to allegorically transform the brown leather skin of the bouncing ball into something far greater.

The NBA championship has crowned the Raptors global ambassadors of the bouncing ball, and through the genius of Masai Ujiri, has taken “Basketball Without Borders” to a new high. The “Giant of Africa” has now become a giant of sports management. 

Ujiri's inspiration, activism and making everyone believe that the best resides in everyone if they are given an opportunity to play has won the day. The aborted fetus is not unlike the bouncing ball whose opportunity to play is terminated by the selfish borders of the human mind. 

Every child deserves an opportunity to play with the bouncing ball.

Thank you,

Joseph Pede