Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski
With the NBA the players are GMs (or whatever head office title that is responsible for roster construction) too. Not sure if that is a good thing - especially for cities that aren’t highly regarded by top flight players.
Miami
San Francisco
New York
Los Angeles
Atlanta(???)
Even though you hear people mention Toronto as a great city - no players have decided to build there
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I think you have nailed it when you said the last piece. I am no fan of the Toronto sports scene at all, I hate the fact that they try to make themselves out to be substantially more important than they are. This NBA Championship aside, they try to think they are in the same sports town category as a Boston or a NY and area, they are not.
The biggest problem facing teams like the Raptors and the Jays is that American players generally don't want to play in Canada for a variety of reasons. I've heard everything from taxes, the weather, the health care, the school system, our "socialism" the opportunities off the field/court etc.
Call it whatever you want but the NBA and MLB players really really view Canada as very different and Toronto has a tough time keeping or recruiting top end players who have a choice and doing it consistently.
When Kawai was making a big deal about the weather during the winter in Toronto during his All-Star appear-ance I couldn't help but shake my head at the stupidity. I'd guess probably 8-10 NBA cities have fairly similar weather to Toronto in the winter? It's like not Boston and NY players are walking into a January game wearing sockless loafers and shorts.
It's just different and for whatever reason NHL teams don't have that same issue across the board. A lot of American NHL players came from colder markets, came to Canada for tournaments, training etc
I just can't imagine a situation where Auston Mathews and Chucky from Calgary making a quote like Kawai did and than bolting from Canada to go play in Arizona or something.
"It’s just been cold. But, you know, the snow does look nice on days but you just need a jacket to go outside. I’m not used to wearing boots and everything"