The song came over the speakers, on repeat. No one complained, because it was a simple statement of glorious, hard-earned fact.
Let the truth ring out.
As the Toronto Raptors‘ bus made its way out of Oracle Arena and into the night, its cargo of sticky, tipsy and ecstatic basketball players were looking for food, looking for a place to continue the party, looking to start the best off-season of their careers. But the theme song was well-established.
We are the Champions was the song, Kyle Lowry the DJ.
“Oh man. It was probably one of the best rides of my life. Kyle just wanted to keep playing (that song) over and over and over again on the speaker,” says Fred VanVleet. “Everybody is a little under the influence, heading to get something to eat, get changed and just realizing we had the rest of the summer to enjoy this. Our team was really serious and locked in when it was time to play and time to win, but then when it’s time to have fun we let loose.”
June 13, marks the one-year anniversary of something many people thought they would never see: The Raptors winning the NBA championship. It sparked a celebration that anyone there will never forget, and culminated in a parade a few days later through the streets of downtown Toronto in which it seemed like everyone had a part.
It might seem surreal now — millions of people crammed into every crevice of the city core, breathing the same air, celebrating the Raptors’ march through the Eastern Conference and win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals as one.
And as an added quirk, after waiting 25 years to win their first title, the Raptors will be the longest-reigning champions in NBA history as the league won’t crown its next champion until October at the earliest — presuming the league’s return-to-play plans go off smoothly after the season was paused on March 11 due to the novel coronavirus.
But the experience looms large in the memories of those on the floor and in the champagne-soaked locker room and on the bus, even if the details may be a little fuzzy.
“The bus ride was a blur,” says Norman Powell. “I was pretty drunk from drinking all the champagne and I don’t even like beer, but I was chugging beer, so I was pretty drunk from there… I just remember it being really loud. Everybody was trying to plan something really quick like, ‘Is this open? Is that open?’ And try to figure out what we were doing. But yeah, the bus ride was just crazy. Everybody was just celebrating.”
In some ways the celebrating has never stopped, although the intensity may have come down a few notches — along with the alcohol content.
Twelve months removed from the ultimate professional accomplishment, the moment continues to resonate.
VanVleet says he feels it when little kids give him drawings or send notes to commemorate the Raptors’ win. Powell says he still gets a buzz when random strangers call him “Champ” or when he goes for dinner and gets his desert comped from an appreciative restaurant owner.
“I still find it a little weird,” says Powell. “It’s like, man, I’m really a champion. That’s like a lifelong childhood dream and you accomplished it. So, it’s still weird, but it feels right.”
It’s the win that keeps on giving.
“The way people were talking to me when they saw me everywhere I went, it was like we changed their lives,” says Serge Ibaka. “You know, to us, it’s just a game. We love this game. But I didn’t know how impactful it was for a lot of Canadians. And going to the airport, to the restaurant or anywhere, the way people were talking to me, the way people were reacting, thanking me with my teammates, all those things, to me it was like, wow.
“Sometimes (with) these things you don’t know, but after it changes some people’s lives or it’s helping some people. It was just amazing. That was one of the amazing things and even till now it’s still happening. Even till now.”
Normally the Raptors would know by now if they were able to defend their title, but because the league has been on hiatus due to COVID-19 they are the only team in NBA history to be able to reflect on the meaning of their year as champions while gearing up to try to win another. It could work in their favour. Instead of coming to the finish line after playing nearly 12 months of continuous basketball, the Raptors will be starting fresh after a nearly five-month break from competition.
They may need some time to find their legs, but not their identity. It’s set in stone. Long the league’s afterthought, the Raptors no longer need anyone else’s approval to confirm their status. They have rings for that.
“To be honest, I don’t really care,” says Pascal Siakam. “I don’t care, to be simple and truthful. I don’t care what people think of the Raptors. I think for us it’s been a lot of years caring about (and saying), ‘Oh, love me too,’ you know what I mean? I think that’s all over. We are who we are. We are the champions and if you don’t see it, that’s your problem.
“For us, it’s about us. We’re not worried about what other people think. We’re worried about us. We’re worried about continuing to win games and chase championships. That’s the only thing we care about and whoever feels the way they feel, like, that’s (on) them and it has nothing to do with us. We don’t care about our perception.”
It might be the ultimate reward. In a world where people are so often searching for their place, the Raptors can stand tall and together on something they earned the hard way.
As individuals, the Raptors are battle-tested. There is nothing to find out, no mysteries to unpack. Throughout a 24-game post-season they each had moments of doubt and others to shine and learned that the ups and the downs are simply part of the journey. Looking back, they look past “The Shot” or any other highlight package. Instead, it’s the way the path to the title featured countless little moments that weaved together to make something bigger.
“I just noticed like how in tune we were with one another, and that’s from top to bottom,” says Powell. “When somebody would have a bad game or miss a couple of shots or miss a play or two, like down the line we were so in tune and connected in keeping each other not only accountable but confident and their head high… We were all talking to each other, making sure we were all locked-in and focused and that nothing else distracted from the task at hand.
“I think we kind of overlook that when we’re looking at it. We’re looking at the plays that were made and the shots that were made and this, that, and the other, but the detailed things that went into it — that whole run from the first round to The Finals was tough. Everybody had their moments. Everybody had their time to be upset at whatever was going on and we didn’t let that affect us as a group and that started from top to bottom. We all held each other accountable and we all listened to one another and we all let whatever was stressing us or bothering us go and ready to come play.”
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VanVleet sees the same thing. He went from playing — on paper — some of his worst basketball early in the playoffs to playing his best and earning a Finals MVP vote, but it’s the spirit he recognizes when he watches the championship run unfold.
“Sometimes when we watch film you can go back and see clips and plays and realize how high of a level we were playing at,” says the Raptors point guard. “That always catches me off guard. Especially early on in this season we’d go back and look at where we were last year and just realize that we were playing at an extremely high level. It didn’t feel like that at the time but going back and looking at it you can see why we were in that position to win a championship.”
The goal is to do it again. The hunger remains. If anything, the appetite has only been whetted.
“Winning a championship just motivated me personally as a player,” says Ibaka, who is one of a number of Raptors — Powell, VanVleet and Siakam among them — who are in the midst of career-best seasons.
“All of the hard work I’ve been putting in for many, many years. When you work so hard for something and you don’t get it, sometimes you can have a moment where you feel like you want to give up. It’s kind of normal. It stinks. It’s one of those things all human beings go through.
“But then when after you win it’s like it’s been released. It gives me more energy now. I feel like I’m new again at this game. I have more energy to go for more.”
Hey DJ, play it again.
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