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

[C.Boshly]

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.

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.

Heard the exact same thing from someone who works broadcasts. Raptors are great... other “unnamed” sport must have some divas lol

[Yosemite Dan]

I was at a take out burger place in Scarborough last year and Jamal Magloire walked in holding some dry cleaning. The owners told me afterwards that there’s a dry cleaners next door that apparently he frequents because his mother lives in the area. Don’t know if he lives in the same area. He ordered some fries. Wanted extra gravy on the fries and asked if it cost more. It was and he got perturbed that he had to pay an extra 50 cents. I guess an NBA salary doesn’t go as far as it used to.

Also was sitting near Chris Bosh at Astoria on the Danforth during his last year as a Raptor. It was after a game we went to and he was hurt so he didn’t play that night. It was around 11pm. I remember it being winter so it was probably late in the season. He was with his GF at the time and another couple. I was a little drunk and when he walked in I blurted out “Chris please stay”. He kinda gave me a dirty look so I may have caused that final push to Miami lol.

[M3tro]

Charles Oakley bought some salmon off of me when I was 17 years old at the Loblaws seafood counter.

Nice guy.

[Bank Shot]

I've met a handful of Raptors over the years. Lowry, JV, Ed, and Landry Fields were all good guys. I asked Fields if his wife had any single friends and he laughed pretty hard. I also interned at a major sports agency in basketball ops a couple of years back and met some big-name players/personnel. I won't name names but they were all pretty normal guys. I also met Taylor Rooks while I was working there and she was exceptionally nice. Glad to see she's really blown up.

DD fake cell phoned me in a convenience store once. I just gave him a nod as I walked by him in an aisle, he nodded back, and then I went about my business. Then I ended up behind him in line and he pulled his phone out and did a terrible acting job. I was standing there thinking bro, I rip you on RealGM all the time, I don't want to talk to you.

I also saw Kevin Garnett in a Sobeys once but didn't recognize him. I didn't have my contacts in and since the guy is shockingly skinny in real life, I figured it was just some G-Leaguer. I went online after to try to figure out who it was and there were a bunch of people who got pics with him inside the store.

Speaking of shockingly skinny, I had a Jelani McCoy sighting at Yorkdale a few years back. I think he had been out of the league for well over half a decade at that point. I was surprised he was in Toronto still.

For college bball guys, I met Rick Pitino at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Super random. He was there because Lou Lamoriello was part of the Hall class that was going in that day and they are buddies. He was friendly enough but kind of jittery. This was before **** hit the fan. I also know Len Elmore personally. Very nice and knowledgeable about just about everything.

[agkagk]

I’ve seen Lowry a couple times at that steakhouse south of the stadium ... bistro something something.....
Drove by Reggie freaking Miller on the gardener once. We were doing a hundred side by side staring at each other. Hard to miss his giant bulbous lightbulb of a head.

Anyways best story I have is josh Donaldson absolutely dummied me for making eye contact with his girl walking down the street in Wellington....one passing glance aaaand he rushed me... i assume he’s a giant frat boy douchebag. That is all.

[Tval6ixball]

In 2011 at the Sound Academy Rick Ross was doing a concert, Demar, Ed Davis, Amir, and a few others I cant completely remember were just chilling in the back with no security letting people come up to them and talk and dap. They were all dressed in track pants and practice gear, so maybe they decided to stop by after practice? The concert was suppose to start at 8 but Ross didnt start until 11:45, they were long gone by then but was still interesting!

[Spark]

I had a few random encounters over the years living in Toronto. (Yes...i do like taking pics for memories)

-Saw Terrence Ross at square one at Walmart buying Poptarts with his girlfriend. Went up to him and ask "Sir can i get a picture with you?" even though he is a few years younger than me haha chill dude.

-Amir Johnson was by himself walking down the path and it seemed no one cared....so i walked up to him and ask for a picture. After that, EVERYONE went up and ask for it lol my bad Amir...

-Landry Field right after a game, I was walking down Bay street and saw a tall dude jay-walking (looked like he was in a rush) but I saw a glimpse of his face and I shouted "FIELDDDD!, let me grab a pic!". Lucky no one was on bay street and he heard me, he stopped and waited for me to cross the street to take a pic.

- Jamaal Magloire was walking near ACC...I was rocking a GS hat (just came back from a Cali Trip and this was before they won their championship), saw Big Cat and ask for a pic....he responded "wrong hat my dude"....then walked off. That was the last day I wore the GS hat

-The man himself, Masai Ujiri stepped inside of RealSport....I was the only one there and was starstruck....didn't have the balls to ask for a picture. He saw me looking at him and went up to me and said "How are you doing boss?"...that RIGHT, I am the Boss of Raptors GM.

-Seth Curry during NBA FInals, he and his girl (Doc Rivers Daughter) walked pass everyone....of course I waited until they were in the clear of no fans when I asked for a pic. Great guy!

-Alex McKechnie (load management), walk into my clinic, had a great talk about Raptors and Kawhi. Very down to earth.

-Terence Davis driving along Queens during Media Day. His window was down when I was walking and I instantly notice him since he has a big red Range Rover. Shouted out "Good luck Rook!" He nodded at me and smiled lol


...the rest are seeing players during games but I definitely enjoy running into players randomly more.

[RaptorsNorth]

The only raptor player I’ve ever ran into on the street was Amir Johnson. I saw him downtown at Yonge and Dundas with his girlfriend. I think they were going to the movies.

Oh I saw Nathan Jawai (the Australian Shaq ) shopping at the Eaton Center one time but that guy only had a quick cup of tea here I’m not sure I would even label him a raptor player.

[Kevin Willis]

Moral of the story is to live / work downtown and be active and you have a good chance of meeting some Raptors.

[RapsFan2000]

Ive seen Chris Bosh at a Toronto nightclub back during his Toronto days. Saw and met JunkYard Dog and his brother at a local event.
Met Cory Joseph and shook hands with him and chatted for a brief moment during an OBA tournament that our teams were participating at.

Saw Andrew Wiggins play at McMaster as well, but never personally met him, just watched.

One of my ex girls back when I was about 21, talked to Terrence Ross (before me and her ever talked) and he attempted to bring her over to his place . Lol she was a "holy girl" or type to "do those things" in a serious relationship or marriage and refused but Ross definitely dodged a bullet with that one. I did too lol

Besides that, have seen lots of players in attendance at Raptors games. Seen Harden up close, dude is massive. Also I was lucky enough to see the Brooklyn Nets play when they had KG/Pierce/Joe/Deron. Saw KG, Pierce, Deron but Joe Johnson wasn't playing which upset me since hes one of my fav players.

I was at the Bucks/Raps playoff game and saw Giannis. I was at Game 7 for the Philly/Raps game and witnessed Kawhi making that shot. One of the best moments of my life and was lucky enough to share it with my Dad. We both went crazy and I probably hugged/propped everyone near me.

[Senbonzakura]

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[DreamTeam09]

I'm a couple years older than Cojo, and he use to come to the rec center I use to work at everyday after school before he went down south

TT came by a few times

I went to HS with J.Shepp (former team Canada member)

I was at the game denham brown scored 111 in HS

Khem birch had a private workout at my rec centre as well

I went to the ACC once and met vince back in the hayday. He had a crazy expensive chain on that he tucked in....

Maglore is a Scarborough native

[EFF3KT]

I got a few to share from myself, as well as a crazy story from a friend of mine.

I ran into James Johnson randomly at Yorkdale. He wasn't discreet at all as he was wearing a black raptors shirt and joggers while wearing shades on. Shamelessly, I followed him into Danier and asked for a photograph. He pretty cool about it.
No one realized who he was until I took a pic with him and it clicked for some that he may be a Toronto Raptor. That was during his first year with us.

I was in Honolulu in 2017. I was there right as players from the Clippers and Raptors were arriving for their Honolulu Preseason games.
Because of this, I walked around wearing my Lowry Jersey hoping to run into him and get a pic.
Unfortunately I didn't see a single Raptor but I did run into 3 Clippers!
Deandre Jordan randomly walked into the Foot Locker I was in. People obviously recognized him and he didn't shy away too much from pictures.
Walking along the street, I ran into Lou with one of the "twins". This is right after he left Toronto too so I had much love for the guy so I had to yell out Louuuuuuuuuu as he walked by. He acknowledged me and said what's up. Didn't want to ask for a picture since he was with his girl.
In that same time frame, I walked right towards this black SUV with windows tinted. I had a feeling a NBA player was in there. The window slowly lowered and it turned out to be Wes Johnson of all people. Not much of an interaction there.

Years ago, my wife used to work at this clinic downtown on Dundas. She and her mother were waiting for the elevator one morning. As the elevator opened, she saw 4 tall guys in there, 2 of which she couldn't even see their faces as they were taller than the elevator door entrance, and the others were Calderon and Demar. Turns out the other two were Bosh and Bargnani. My wife's mother is a huge NBA fan so she instantly knew who they were and started waving and saying hi. Calderon was apparently the only one that really said something back while the others acknowledged her with a smile.
Apparently it's the same building where they get medical checks done so it made sense.

Lastly, craziest story was from a close friend of mine.
He was at his friend's condo waiting outside the door in the hallway waiting for his friend. One Door down, a 7 foot man walks out and turned out to be Jamal Magloire. They acknowledged each other and chatted for a minute. Because my friend is 6' 5", Jamal asks him what his shoe size was, told him to hold one for one minute as he walked back into his condo.
Jamal walks out with 12 boxes of shoes, all his size too. Good guy Jamal is man.

[Indiana Jones]

I met Leo Rautins at an event. I was telling him about a youth bball camp of his that my brother attended way back in the mid-90s, and suddenly he just grabbed the booklet I had in my hands, signed it (with a sharpie he had in his jacket pocket), handed it back, and then walked away without ever saying a word or looking at me.

[PerfectJab]

Jose Calderon was sitting a couple tables away from me at Jacob's Steakhouse. I believe it was in 2009.

He seemed like a quiet guy and was with a mixed f/m group of euro looking people. Locked eyes a couple times but decided to leave him alone.

Not NBA but passed King Kong Bundy at Pearson. The dude looks mean, walked funny and has a very distinctive looking bald head.

[filsor]

Met Chris bosh at a night club. I talked with him for a couple minutes. It was great for me, and he was cool with me coming upto him. It was also Halloween and my buddy was dressed as a woman who later found Chris and asked him to dance... that was gold. Chris did not enjoy it as much as we did.

[SharoneWright]

Alice Fazooli's. Aleks Radojevic. Very tall.

[coca_scola]

I met James Johnson. Nicest dude ever.

[Westside Gunn]

the recent stuff as in this decade, as i've gotten older i minimize the fanboyism, but i do acknowledge the presence in some way

Dennis Schroeder- a masjid in atlanta. he really blended in well. kept my distance

Dikembe Mutumbo - driving in a mall parking lot and you just know that it is dikembe mutmbo. huge. i waved he nodded with a smile.

Jeff Teague - met him at a small chicken place hidden away in the burbs. i walked up to get my order and he was there sitting with friends. air props and heart touch

atl you can find celebrities easy if thats your thing. toronto is far more crowded but my best experience was with colangelo. what a guy. a multi million dollar exec that remembers your name, talks to you, answers all your questions and takes his sweet ass time. i tried to use these interactions as a guide and motivation to approach top executives at work for work related stuff. turns out i got warned by my manager and was asked to keep my distance. office politics and lineup for ass kissing.

[RaptorsNorth]

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

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