TORONTO – Late in the first quarter of the Toronto Raptors’ clinical 126-98 demolishment of the New York Knicks on Wednesday, Canadian R.J. Barrett – the third-overall pick from last June’s NBA Draft and quite possibly the only bright spot on yet another bleak Knicks season – was given a video tribute by the Raptors’ game operations, along with fellow Knicks Canuck Ignas Brazdeikis.
Barrett didn’t get a chance to see said tribute, but he certainly heard it.
“I didn’t see it, but I heard our names,” Barrett said after the game. “It was great that they do that.”
Wednesday night marked the first time in the Mississauga, Ont., native’s career that he played a game in Toronto as a fully-fledged NBA player, and with it came some interesting obligations.
Among the loudest ovations for Barrett when that video tribute was played inside Scotiabank Arena came from pockets of the upper bowl, where a good portion of the 300 people, give or take, Barrett said he bought tickets for were happily enjoying seeing a young man who touched their lives years ago blossom before their eyes.
“I think I realized it at a summer camp,” said Lisa from Toronto, who attends the same church Barrett frequented growing up, of when she realized Barrett was cut from a different cloth. “I saw my husband playing basketball with R.J., and a bunch of other guys, too, and I just noticed this big, tall guy was so much better and all the guys were so much older than him, and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s different.’”
Barrett had a large contingent in attendance on Wednesday from his old church, the Toronto Church of Christ, including another Lisa, this one from Richmond Hill, who revealed that Barrett insisted that his family attend service at their old worship spot last Sunday, despite how busy he and the rest of the family were with them back in town.
“It was R.J. who insisted that they come to church on Sunday morning and got the whole family in,” Richmond Hill’s Lisa said.
And it wasn’t just people tied to Barrett’s strong faith that the 19-year-old got tickets for; also included were next-door neighbours, such as James from Mississauga, who has lived directly next to the Barrett family since they first moved into the neighbourhood about 15 years ago, he said.
“He’s always played basketball. Always, always, always, always,” James said of his memories of a young Barrett growing up. “The neighbour behind us, he’s got a three-point basketball court and net, and he was always out there with his father.”
And interestingly enough, James’ daughter, Alexandra, actually babysat Barrett and his younger brother, Nathan, and can’t recall a time when that orange ball wasn’t just with him.
“When I was babysitting him, R.J. always had a basketball in his hands,” said Alexandra. “It was always about basketball, and I just remember babysitting him and his little brother and everything was always about basketball.”
Colleen from Brampton, a family friend of the Barretts, thinks of Lil’ R.J. in a similar fashion, and recalls times when she would drive and pick him up from practice, and even sleep over at her place.
Getting the invite from Barrett and seeing him out there on the Scotiabank Arena floor was a very special moment for Colleen.
“This is watching his dream come true,” she said. “Knowing that this is what he wanted to do and to see it come to fruition, and seeing him do so well and seeing him handle it so well with poise and he still remains humble and kind and loving. Speaking as a parent, that’s all a parent could ask for.”
First-time homecomings for any NBA player are usually special, hectic occasions, but few, if any, include a 300-ticket itinerary. Judging by the reactions of the people whom Barrett touched on his path towards the NBA, however, it would’ve been out of character for him to seek out a number any lower than that.
“It was great to get out there,” Barrett said. “I was gonna have fun and try my best out there and hopefully I get to play here again many times.”
And there’s at least 300 people who wish the same.
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