It is no secret that Drake loves the Toronto Raptors and that the Toronto Raptors love Drake.
The Six God, who has served as a global ambassador for the franchise since 2013, made his triumphant return to Scotiabank Arena on Monday night to watch the Raptors take on the Houston Rockets in their second-to-last preseason game of the year. And towards the end of the third quarter, Drizzy took his rightful place as third mic for TSN's telecast of the game.
Following a COVID-19-altered 2020-2021 campaign which saw the Raptors playing their home games in Tampa, Florida, Drake took a couple minutes to express his gratitude for the franchise, and made it clear how glad he was just to be back in the building. Drizzy teased going on his Certified Lover Boy tour and dished on inviting the new Raptors rookies to his Toronto estate to listen to the album.
Most interesting, however, was Drake's revelation that Kawhi Leonard still talks about his time with the Raptors.
After leaving San Antonio in 2018, Leonard played one season in Toronto and lead the team to an NBA Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors. Despite begs and pleas for Leonard to stay with the Raptors, the All-NBA small forward ultimately decided to head home to Los Angeles and sign with the Clippers but, according to the Dark Lane Demo Tapes rapper, Kawhi still has love for The Six.
"One thing about Kawhi that I can tell the people, whenever I see him, he expresses like the utmost gratitude and always says how much he misses the fans and the city," Drake told Raptors' fans. “He’s really grateful for his time here and we definitely miss him for sure."
Decked out in an oversized red coat and his signature heart-shaped haircut, Drake looked right at home talking to the TSN broadcast team. This is not the first time the Toronto rapper has appeared on NBA telecasts, but with DeMar DeRozan, Leonard and Kyle Lowry all having left the franchise, Drake's return to the broadcast brought a sense of familiarity for Raptors' fans and was a nice welcome back for the NBA in Canada.
Check out Drizzy's appearance on the Raptors' broadcast below and let us know what you think in the comments.
[Via]