On Thursday night, I covered my first NBA game of the season.
Yes, you're still on a soccer site. But this writer's got eight years of collective NBA digital experience, and I was after a story.
At the official pre-MLS Cup press conference, Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley mentioned his relationship with Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, and how players on the city teams had developed a mutual respect, especially given the recent run of success by the Blue Jays, the Raptors and now, TFC.
Lowry has wound a notoriously bumpy path toward his current position of leadership and success in Toronto. He preceded Bradley by two seasons, similarly arriving at a personal and franchise pivot. Each envisioned themselves taking on the responsibility of guiding the team, pairing developing skills with experience gained, and they've settled in as ever-raising expectations have been meted, matched and made irrelevant.
When Raptors media relations went to Lowry with my request, he went out of his way to set aside time for MLSsoccer.com, conducting a second interview after his postgame media scrum despite a looming getaway flight. It's rare that any NBA player allows time for 1-on-1 followups with a plane to catch, let alone All-Stars.
Lowry offered quick, and genuine, praise for Bradley and his role guiding TFC.
"It's been a kind of very good, respected relationship that we've had," Lowry told MLSsoccer.com. "He's leading his team to a point where I want to get my team to, and he's always been a consummate pro."
Bradley has similarly admired Lowry's NBA ascension: "There's a real mutual respect and a feeling like, 'You know what? I love watching him compete every night.'
"When I get home, after I put my kids to bed, and I'm having dinner with my wife, I enjoy turning the TV on and watching the Raptors, because I enjoy what these guys are all about. And you get the feeling that they have that same feeling toward us."
Bradley's right – Raptors Cory Joseph and Patrick Patterson are both big fans of the Reds. Joseph, an Ontario native, has rocked snapbacks during postgame interviews, flipping the script to hound the ink-stained hordes for TFC updates when gametimes overlap; Patterson is a two-year season-ticket holder for the soccer side, one who plans to forgo the Raps' team suite at BMO in favor of his own seats closer to the action.
"It's huge for the city," Joseph said. "I hope everybody comes out to support. I know it's going to be electrifying in that arena. I watched our boys win, man. We're gonna take that [game] against Seattle. I can say that."
Patterson first connected with Bradley while filming a December 2014 Players Tribune episode of "Athletes on Couches Playing Video Games," in which the duo paired up for a 3-0 TFC rout of rival Montreal Impact in that year's edition of EA Sports' FIFA franchise.
He's since met Jozy Altidore and a few other players, purchased his season seats, and closely followed TFC's run to the MLS Cup final. The teams and players are getting swept up in a real moment for Toronto, with these waves of success elevating anticipation levels as fans chase their first championship since Joe Carter's legendary 1993 home run (Four Grey Cups aside).
"It's ... everything," Patterson said. "This city's been yearning for a championship, for a team to make it to the finals, and finally they have it.
"The whole city's behind them – every person on this team, every person on the Maple Leafs, and the Blue Jays and every person in the city and the country, I believe, should be behind them right now."
Bradley said that between TFC's supporters and the crossover audience that routinely – exponentially – amplifies the experience for local teams making a run, that which the players represent (team, city, country) has been driven home time and time again.
And Lowry, having joined the Raptors for the 2012-13 season, when the team finished 34-48, couldn't say enough about the fans, from those early struggles on through last year's record campaign.
"The sports culture is amazing," Lowry said. "Even when we weren't good, we still had sellouts up here. In Toronto, they just love all sports, man. They're really supportive of us."
There's one more chance to show it for soccer. Saturday will be special.
