The NBA Finals are shaping up to be an epic series where an American city is facing off against a Canadian team.
Although many of the players on the Toronto Raptors are American born-and-bred players; there is no question that Canadians treat those players like family. They are our brethren to the north, which makes their catch phrase “We the North” all the more genuine.
And Canadians went wild when this former U.S. President sat courtside for Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors.
The Toronto Raptors making the NBA Finals seemed like a Cinderella story just a few short weeks ago even though they finished second place in the Eastern Conference.
Most analysts had the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers or the Milwaukee Bucks coming out on top. The Raptors didn’t need to face the Celtics because they were already eliminated but Kawhi Leonard sank a crazy buzzer-beater Game 7 shot against the 76ers sending them home.
And then they faced the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Easter Conference Finals. The first two games were a wash in Milwaukee for the Raptors. There was no way they would climb back in with the dominant eminent MVP award winner Antetokounmpo protecting the rim and scoring at will.
But you would be putting the cart before the horse in that scenario because Kawhi Leonard led his Raptors to four straight wins to take the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
On to Golden State Warriors as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would likely say in that scenario – the only problem is that although the Raptors finished second in the East while the Warriors finished first in the West – the Warriors traveled to Canada for the first two games of the Finals.
Raptors stole Game 1, which was a little bit shocking. But then Game 2 happened on Sunday night and the preeminent favorite Warriors did what they do best and tied the series up. Celebrities were in full force at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto but there was one surprising guest.
That guest was former President Barack Obama.
Here’s how the crowd reacted.
Barack Obama gets a standing ovation at Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Toronto.
Via blogTO pic.twitter.com/Dqqf3P1rYW— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 3, 2019
This was Obama’s reaction when he saw ESPN’s Mike Wilbon in the tunnels.
Delightful encounter with America’s #1 basketball fan, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/ObJ8q6pYlH
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) June 3, 2019
Meanwhile President Trump has a job to do, which is to clean up former President Obama’s mess.
While our neighbors to the north were enamored Obama showed up to a basketball game, Trump visited a church in Northern Virginia that very same Sunday as Obama attended the Warriors at Raptors game. Trump was there to mourn the mass shooting in Virginia Beach and then shortly after he left for London, England where he met with the Royal Family.
Still, Obama gets all the glory, while Trump gets a big balloon in England mocking him.
