Face of Nation :The team are one victory away from their first-ever NBA title. And many in Toronto see basketball as representative of a diverse, global city
Now, after Friday’s victory over the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, the Raptors are a single win away from their first-ever championship. And basketball fans in Toronto are experiencing a feeling that has been absent for more than two decades: hope.
Paired up against a powerful but injury-riddled Warriors team, the Raptors can make history when the best-of seven series, which they lead 3-1, returns to Toronto on Monday evening.
“It’s actually happening. It’s literally a dream come true. We’ve had to fight so hard for this,” says Hussein of the team’s hard-won place in the championships. “It’s mind blowing.”
Canada’s largest city is no stranger to major sports franchises. Its vaunted Maple Leafs were a dynastic ice hockey force in the 1960s. The Blue Jays won the baseball World Series in 1993. But Toronto hasn’t experienced the frenzied elation of a major sports championship in more than 20 years (Toronto FC won the MLS title in 2017, but soccer doesn’t quite have the pull of hockey, baseball and basketball in Canada); there is an excitement that has infected much of the city.
