Over the years, global ambassador Drake has become inextricably linked with the Toronto Raptors. So we decided to pick one lyric of his for every player currently on the team.
Aubrey Drake Graham is many things. He’s a former teenaged star of the iconic Canadian TV drama, Degrassi. He’s a rapper – the most successful one under age 35, according to himself. Forbes reported in June that Drake has an estimated net worth of $150 million, making him one of the world’s five wealthiest hip-hop artists. He’s arguably the most popular artist alive right now, having broken The Beatles’ record for most top-10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single year. Most importantly, though – at least for our purposes – Drake is the global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors.
What exactly does the ‘global ambassador’ title mean? No one really knows. What we do know: Despite claiming that he’s “on some Raptors pay-my-bills s***,” Drake doesn’t receive a salary from the Raptors, according to Pitchfork.
Even so, the rapper has undeniably made an impact on the team, and particularly on its place in pop culture, over the years. The Raptors started having “Drake Night” games over the past few seasons, giving out shirts, and even wearing alternate OVO jerseys on occasion since the 2015-16 season.
Last season, the Drake-Raptors connection reached a whole new level. The team renamed its practice facility OVO Athletics Centre, after the rapper’s brand. They also debuted an alternate OVO-themed court, to go with the popular white-and-gold jerseys.
During Toronto’s 2019 championship run, Drake made his presence felt more than ever. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, he mocked Joel Embiid’s airplane celebration courtside. During the Eastern Conference Finals, he stepped onto the court multiple times and even jokingly massaged Nick Nurse, which gave a lot of people a good laugh – Nurse included – but not NBA commissioner Adam Silver or the Milwaukee Bucks. Finally, to kick off the NBA Finals, Drake wore an autographed Dell Curry Raptors jersey to troll the Golden State Warriors.
Drake’s involvement with the Raptors has been polarizing, to say the least. Still, most would agree that his impact has been more positive than negative for the franchise. Let’s give a little hat-tip to The Boy and ascribe one of his lyrics to every player currently on the Raptors’ roster, heading into a change-filled 2019-20 NBA season.