Has anybody ever bumped into Raptors/NBA players or personnel? Got any stories worth sharing?

[Son Goku 25]

I wanna meet Leo to ask him why did he let realgm posters bully him out of saying “Hoo man! Ho Ho hoo!!! when that could have been his “touch em all Joe” man should embraced it like Jack embraced get that garbage outta here.
This man completely stopped using it after RealGm started using it Leo I know you’re reading this so bring it back OG

Watch on YouTube

Leo loves Dick we all know that just ask Chuck.

[FreshyFlames]

Was at Bowlerama in 2001 and Alvin Williams was there chilling lowkey with a girl. One of my friends noticed him and was like doesn't he play for the Raptors and I was like yeah that's Alvin Williams! We went up to him and he was super cool and gave us autographs(nobody had a phone back then).

Also met Mo Pete back in 07 at our season finale. He wasn't playing and I happened to run into him in the elevator. He was cool too.

Also played against Cory and Devoe Joseph in high school when they were at Pickering. Good dudes.

[theSkinny]

I have many,

I’ll give three options and if anyone wants I’ll detail.

Mauricio Gehridini was my neighbour
Playing pool with Pape Sow
Walking my dogs with Leo.

[gei]

Ran into Shawn Marion right after he was traded to the Raptors.

I said, welcome to dinosaur team and championship time.

[And1+2]

Met Dennis Rodman at the Seahorse Tavern in Halifax. He was out on the town after doing some event in the city. He sat down at a table next to mine, and we all ended up getting along. He instigated the conversation too, which was cool. I obviously knew who he was (and was even aware he was in town) but in true Nova Scotia fashion I didn't want to bother him, because like, even as a celebrity who wants to get bothered?

He ended up buying us a couple of rounds and he joined our group and danced with us to a DJ set for a bit. Pretty cool.

[Johnny Bball]

I have many,

I’ll give three options and if anyone wants I’ll detail.

Mauricio Gehridini was my neighbour
Playing pool with Pape Sow
Walking my dogs with Leo.

[mdenny]

I work at tsn and on raptor games. The raptor guys and production team are way more enjoyable to work with then a certain unnamed other sport. The cfl guys are great too.

Meet lots of players all the time but it's not professional to interact much. The tv guys are great. Not a bad apple in the bunch (unlike another unnamed sport lol). I know that leo hasn't always been popular but trust me, you'd go to bat for him if u worked with him. That goes for all the guys. Raptor fans are lucky to have our team of guys.

Not sure if anyone saw this...but a few years ago Barkely and his team set up a bit on national US tv where they ranked greatest canadians of all time. Gretzky was mentioned...but it was all a setup for Barkely to shout out Rod Black repeatedly on national TV. They're good buddies.

When our schedules are released I am hoping for as many raptor shifts as possible and not just because I'm a ball fan. Alot of crew ppl who don't care about sports feel the same way.

Just wanted to clarify something. I referred to Leo moreso because I remember lurking this board like 10 years ago and he got a hard time back then. So I was thinking moreso of all that.

It seems like most of that went away since then. I don't see much if any at all the same complaints as 10-15 years ago. He's the only one that's been around since day one and I think the fanbase embraces him now. 15 years ago maybe there was some mixed reviews. In any case...he's a good dude and I'm glad he's appreciated more now.

[KarahiLeonard]

Pre-COVID:

Me and a few buddies rent a condo downtown through airbnb, planning on hitting a few bars/clubs .... We go to the liqour store and almost whack a jogger with a door ... that jogger is Jay Triano ...

After a hefty pre-drink, we end up at some bar/club, i believe it was "the basement" ..... enjoying ourselves, when i spot a tall bald guy smirking at me from nearby .... It's Jay Triano ....

Some drunk idiot, friend of a friend, starts getting into it with somebody at the bar .... When I see a large white hand grab the drunk by the shoulder, turn him around and walk him away, de-escalating the whole situation. The de-escalator was ... Jay Triano ...

We get kicked out eventually, grab hot dogs on the way back to the airbnb .....

Next morning, we step out for breakfast, when we cross paths with a jogger .... Jay Triano ....

He recognizes us, smiles and says, "Helluva night boys!"

Twas a wild night and this is a completely true story

[Kevin Willis]

I have many,

I’ll give three options and if anyone wants I’ll detail.

Mauricio Gehridini was my neighbour
Playing pool with Pape Sow
Walking my dogs with Leo.

These two for me.

[execoftheyear]

Used to work at at a nightclub when I was younger. Sonny Weems, Demar and Amir showed up (the young gunz). I dapped up Sonny Weems and Demar was staring at his phone the entire night, can't really remember Amir that night.

2nd time it was Lou Will's birthday. It was during halloween and I got him, Amir and James Johnson to sign my basketball lol. Chuck Hayes was there (got a pic with him), Amir was there (also got a pic with him) and James Johnson, can't remember if anyone else showed up that night (kept getting drinks from them so I was a bit tipsy).

3rd time was for James Johnson's "clothing line" launch. James Johnson was there obviously, Terrence Ross was there (had to mop up a spill in his booth), Bebe was there (I remember his credit cards getting declined like 3 times and he was chugging moet straight from the bottle), Bruno I think was there, and Greivis Vasquez showed up late IIRC. I may be mixing up nights because alcohol.

[theSkinny]

I have many,

I’ll give three options and if anyone wants I’ll detail.

Mauricio Gehridini was my neighbour

I used to live in a penthouse condo on the waterfront, shortly after BC was hired I got to meet him at an event at the ACC, then about a month later I run into MG in my condo elevator.. We both go to the PH floor and get off, and turns out he rented the unit two down from mine.. started seeing him on the regular and started talking ball, finally one day he invited me over to the condo to drink wine and chat more about basketball.. guy is really really smart, but was way more in tune with the Euro game than the NBA

Playing pool with Pape Sow
Walking my dogs with Leo.
So Leo also lived on the waterfront and very often when he was in town he would take his four dogs for a walk generally on a similar schedule to me... IIRC he had a pug and three mutts... maybe one other small one (its been a minute) and my dog got to be be pretty friendly with his pups as we would see each other on the regular... we would talk ball as well and basically just rip on the team (this was the CV Joey Graham era)

These two for me.

[mdenny]

Pre-COVID:

Me and a few buddies rent a condo downtown through airbnb, planning on hitting a few bars/clubs .... We go to the liqour store and almost whack a jogger with a door ... that jogger is Jay Triano ...

After a hefty pre-drink, we end up at some bar/club, i believe it was "the basement" ..... enjoying ourselves, when i spot a tall bald guy smirking at me from nearby .... It's Jay Triano ....

Some drunk idiot, friend of a friend, starts getting into it with somebody at the bar .... When I see a large white hand grab the drunk by the shoulder, turn him around and walk him away, de-escalating the whole situation. The de-escalator was ... Jay Triano ...

We get kicked out eventually, grab hot dogs on the way back to the airbnb .....

Next morning, we step out for breakfast, when we cross paths with a jogger .... Jay Triano ....

He recognizes us, smiles and says, "Helluva night boys!"

Twas a wild night and this is a completely true story

The basement? Bro that would be crazy if jay triano was there. That place was the raver club. Didnt even have a liquor license. 15 year olds used to smoke crystal meth openly.

Unless there were 2 basements lol. That place was the sketchiest club in the history of toronto nightlife.

[Salted Meat]

Used to work at a fancy hotel (lost my job due to covid). I won't say the name, but we were the place that most teams stayed when they were visiting Toronto.

I have... far too many stories. For a while, I could pretty accurately tell by the end of my shift Saturday night who was going to have a bad game Sunday afternoon. All-Star weekend in 2016 was wild. Just the random conversations with coaches, staff, NBATV personnel, and players is something I'll always cherish. Got to wear someone's championship ring. Overheard some things I probably shouldn't have. Saw some things I definitely shouldn't have.

Unfortunately, since I want to go back to that job when things start re-opening, I can't really share anything specific.

[gerrit4]

I've very briefly met Chris Bosh & Loren Woods, and then Amir Johnson at his "Roll with Amir" events or whatever they were called.

With Bosh (Loren Woods was sitting with him), he was cool - my friend and I kind of walked up to them in the middle of their conversation, and they were friendly back in a situation where, in hindsight, I think a lot of people would have been annoyed.

Amir seemed like such an incredibly humble and genuine guy. He basically paid for our tickets and a fantastic dinner at Ruth's Chris, but actually seemed like he was the one thankful that everyone showed up.

[rarefind]

I wanna meet Leo to ask him why did he let realgm posters bully him out of saying “Hoo man! Ho Ho hoo!!! when that could have been his “touch em all Joe” man should embraced it like Jack embraced get that garbage outta here.
This man completely stopped using it after RealGm started using it Leo I know you’re reading this so bring it back OG

Watch on YouTube

Leo loves Dick we all know that just ask Chuck.

lol my favourite Raps clip ever minus our championship run. I'm actually in the shot haha

[Son Goku 25]

I wanna meet Leo to ask him why did he let realgm posters bully him out of saying “Hoo man! Ho Ho hoo!!! when that could have been his “touch em all Joe” man should embraced it like Jack embraced get that garbage outta here.
This man completely stopped using it after RealGm started using it Leo I know you’re reading this so bring it back OG

Watch on YouTube

Leo loves Dick we all know that just ask Chuck.

lol my favourite Raps clip ever minus our championship run. I'm actually in the shot haha

https://youtu.be/CbVeFPOCDS8

Everything about it is hilarious.

You could tell Chuck was upset with thr way the game was going and he had to take his passive aggressiveness out on Leo... leos awkward pause was great too