Part Hollywood premiere, part humanitarian mission, part celebrity gala, Friday night wasn’t just another night at the Air Canada Centre.
It was a glimpse of what the scene could be in the building and the city when times are good, even better than now. What the building and the city could be like when Masai Ujiri’s dreams come true.
Oh, and basketball – even a game featuring LeBron James and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-91 winners over the Raptors – was just a part of it.
What was a remarkable night off the court was held just short of perfect for Ujiri and the Raptors by James and the Cavs who arrived winners of five straight and were clearly determined to make it six, avenging the home court defeat the Raptors dealt them two weeks ago.
“They were hitting on all cylinders, hat’s off to them,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “This team tonight wasn’t us … but hat’s off to them. They spanked us. We didn’t set the tone tonight.”
The Cavs scored the game’s first basket and led the entire game save for a brief wobble midway through the third quarter when a Kyle Lowry triple put Toronto ahead 58-57. The Cavs responded with a 19-4 run where Toronto was outhustled and outshot – Toronto’s own Tristan Thompson bouncing off bodies for an offensive rebound that turned into a Kyrie Irving triple, or Irving sliding across the floor to save a loose ball that ended in a fast break dunk for Thompson come to mind – that the Raptors couldn’t bounce back from.
It was a nice homecoming for Thompson, the Brampton-based power-forward who earned 15 of his 21 points and seven of his 14 rebounds (nine on the offensive glass) in the fourth quarter before a healthy crowd of family and friends.
It may well be the best performance by a Toronto-born player in the history of the ACC.
James led the Cavaliers with 24 points and 13 assists. Amir Johnson had 27 for Toronto, while Kyle Lowry had 22 points and nine assists, the lone bright spots in a lineup held to 40.7 percent shooting.
The loss dropped the Raptors to 15-5 and 2-2 without DeMar DeRozan (who confirmed before the game that his groin injury would not require surgery, but couldn’t put a timeline on his return). They now have a three-game lead over the 11-7 Cavaliers in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
But the game itself was just one element on a night that successfully married a good cause with a good time.
When Ujiri was a young man growing up in Nigeria he would watch the news with his father and see the chaos and strife in South Africa. It was when he first learned about Nelson Mandela and what his example meant to African people.
Ujiri was already on a path that made him the first African-born general manager in NBA history when he finally met the global icon in 2006. It changed his life.
“You study him and read about him and as I got older that’s when he started meaning more to me and what he’s done and the sacrifices he made,” said Ujiri. “From then on, he’s just someone I idolized.”
Friday was December 5, a year since Mandela passed away at age 95. It also marked the first in what Ujiri hopes will be an annual recognition of Mandela and his example by the Raptors. There is hope that it will become a league-wide event.
If it does it got its start here, with the likes of NBA legends Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Dikembe Mutombo on hand for a pre-game red-carpet and cocktail reception to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Ujiri’s own Giants of Africa Foundation.
What does he hope to accomplish, Ujiri was asked.
“The world is not in a good place, in my opinion,” he said. “And he [Mandela] can make it better.”
The red-carpet reception was held before the game in the Raptors blacked-out practice facility (an early taste of its future as an in-arena night club, inspired by Drake) made for some powerful moments. Magic Johnson is a giant of sport and in person a fill-the-room presence.
The minute he arrives your event is A-List, and he came to Toronto, at the behest of the Raptors, in a heartbeat.
The idea of something like that happening here even five years ago is unfathomable. And he wasn’t just window dressing. Asked about how Mandela’s example could translate in the United States where the racial divide seems sharper than ever due to police killings in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City and Johnson spoke out:
“We need to bring together like-minded people who can bring about change. But not just lip service, because we’ve had enough lip-service,” said the former Laker legend.
“… If we can do that then change will come. If it’s just talk and [the black community stays] suppressed and think that people don’t care about them, the same thing is going to happen. It’s important that these meetings take place and we can really bring about serious change because the distrust, the disconnect is bigger than what we see on TV.
“Blacks don’t think they’re ever going to get a fair shake. They think every time the police is coming it’s going to be trouble. So we got to really make sure we can bring about change on everybody’s side.”
Perhaps inspired by the spirit of forgiving those that may have wronged you, the Raptors included prodigal son Tracy McGrady in the mix, making him one of the former Raptors honoured as part of the franchise’s 20th anniversary season.
“Just forgive and move on, people need to learn that,” said Ujiri. “That’s what he [Mandela] taught us.”
“These guys [McGrady and Vince Carter] helped inspire young kids in Canada and look at where basketball is. Every young prospect mentions those guys. Twenty years? Embrace it man.”
McGrady sounded the right notes:
“Looking back, yeah, I wish I had stayed,” said McGrady, who rejected Toronto in favour of Orlando after his third season where he won the first of two NBA scoring titles on his way to becoming a seven-time All-Star. “Let me say this. If the organization was the way it is now, back then? There is no way I would have left. I’ll say that.”
Which in a round-about way, was exactly the point.
Ujiri is too sincere in his passions to suggest that inviting the biggest names in basketball to his city, his arena, on the premise of celebrating a global icon merely to watch his reborn team.
But if Magic or Sir Charles or T-Mac want to come, and end up leaving impressed? If some of the most influential figures in the sport end up seeing that there is something more going on here than just winning basketball games – although they’re getting better at that too, Friday not withstanding – and feel comfortable spreading the word?
That would be a nice side benefit.
“I’m so happy that I’m coming here and they’re a powerhouse,” said Johnson. “… This is serious championship, Eastern Conference championship team.
“[Masai] has done a wonderful job but he’s showing that he has a heart, he has a soul and the Toronto Raptors aren’t just about playing winning basketball, they’re also about touching the world, and I love that.”
Hard not to.