TORONTO — From the endless travel sandwiched between practices, personal commitments, and, of course, playing basketball, the grind of an 82-game NBA season can certainly be felt.
And while there’s no doubt pro-athletes are compensated well for that commitment, there’s something to be said when more than a pay cheque is the connecting thread between players and an organization, its fanbase and the city (or in this case, country) they reside in.
Especially around the holiday season. A time that can be as difficult for some as it is rewarding for others.
The prevailing reason behind why a handful of players from the Toronto Raptors spent Friday evening at the Covenant House — using their lone off-day, less than 24 hours removed from a victory in Milwaukee, and but so many hours from starting a back-to-back against the Boston Celtics on Saturday — decorating festive cookies, serving meals and taking part in meaningful conversations.
“It’s humbling,” Garrett Temple, the Raptors' de facto player-mentor, explained when asked about his motivation to join Friday’s festivities, not just by himself but with his family as well. “Honestly, (I) probably get more out of it than the people we’re here to serve.”
Covenant House in Toronto is Canada’s largest agency serving youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk, as the organization has offered a wide range of services to hundreds on a daily basis since 1982.
“This type of work really hits home,” Temple continued. “So, when it was brought to my attention that this was an option, I definitely wanted to come here and bring the family here.”
Serving the community is something that’s been part of the 16-year NBA veteran’s life long before he joined the Raptors. Temple’s parents founded the Harmony Center in his home state of Louisiana to focus on similar initiatives for the last 45 years, all so they can "strive for (my family) to see, how to lead, is to serve others.”
A lesson Temple has instilled in an otherwise young Raptors team, not just for the enrichment that connection provides the local community, but also for how it serves his teammates.
“You have to find balance, that was the big advice piece I learned when I first got in the league, actually from Garrett,” Gradey Dick said on why being at the Covenant House was meaningful to him. “It’s important to find (interests) away from basketball … the grind is pretty intense. Just knowing that every single day you’ve got to keep sane and not always worry about basketball 24-7.”
Dick, like Jamison Battle and Collin Murray-Boyles, who were also in attendance on Friday, undoubtedly picked up some of that perspective from Temple in their time together. Yet there was one important skill the young Raptors needed on Friday that the veteran was no help with.
“My cookie decorating skills are horrendous,” Temple said with a grin. “I leave that to my five-year-old and my three-year-old, who are pretty good … I think they got me beat.”
As for Dick, he was far more confident in his ability to adorn the festive snacks, referring to his styled cookies as “amazing” after getting some lessons from the youth he spent time with on Friday.
An assessment that was corroborated by Covenant House CEO Mark Aston, describing the quartet of Raptors as "not only excellent basketball players, but they're excellent cookie decorators."
But that's not all the third-year guard took from the evening, however.
“Bringing a smile just from making cookies is a little thing, but it goes a long way," Dick said. "I feel inspired talking to these kids and learning about them and their stories.”
Those are the moments in which the 22-year-old from Wichita, Kan., finds himself connecting most with the folks in the melting-pot of a city he now calls “home.”
“It’s important that I get to do things like this. I get to meet people from different cultures and different backgrounds and learn their stories. But at the end of the day, we’re not all too different. It’s pretty cool to come here and see that.”
And it goes without saying that connection is often a two-way exchange. On the other side, members of the Covenant House also left the event feeling galvanized.
“The young people are excited, volunteers are excited, staff are excited,” Aston said of hosting the Raptors for the first time since 2018.
“Because they’re role models in our communities … people look up to them. They’re inspired by what the Raptors do. And to have an opportunity as a young person to directly sit down and talk with a member of the Raptors is a really big deal.
“It makes a young person feel valued, right? So many of these young people have had such difficult times, and have really not felt valued or confident … (having the Raptors visit) just makes you feel good, and I think that’s what those young people are feeling today.”
Covenant House operates 365 days of the year and has served nearly 3,000 youth just in 2025.
As for the influence and inspiration, as Aston described, that is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege, something the Raptors organization is aware of.
“Being able to give back in a meaningful way … (is) something we’re aspiring to do moving forward,” Brandon Gibbs, the Raptors' manager of social impact, told Sportsnet.
“We play the game of basketball and have a lot of fans that support us, but if we’re not able to be in the community, working with them and supporting them as best as we can, there’s no point.
“Staying connected to the city is great for the game of basketball, the city, the country, the fans and the youth that we inspire to serve.”
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