Does the NBA want the Toronto Raptors in the Finals?
The Toronto Raptors have a chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time ever, but does the NBA want a team based in Canada to get there?
Despite their success over the past few seasons, the Toronto Raptors are still treated like a small market team.
Continuing to reach new heights in terms of single-season win totals, and boasting one of the best backcourts in the league in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto somehow ranks in the bottom third of national TV games this season, only one ahead of the tanking Dallas Mavericks.
For whatever reason, the NBA has unofficially grouped the Raptors with small market teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks, even though the city of Toronto is far from small, ranking No. 1 in population in Canada and fourth among cities in the United States.
Because of its population, Toronto has the ability to bring the NBA big money if it were to make the Finals, but we’ve seen in the past the NBA’s desire to ignore certain areas.
There have been a few instances throughout history of the NBA showing favoritism to teams in larger markets.
While this bias is not without reasoning, money seems to be the biggest, and it’s unfair to small-market teams to be put at even more of a disadvantage when it comes to things like foul calls.
The most obvious and egregious example of this crime came back in 2002 when the Sacramento Kings played the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
The Kings led the series 3-2 with Game 6 in Los Angeles. L.A. shot 40 free throws in the game and 27 in the fourth quarter alone, compared to Sacramento’s 25 for the game. The Lakers would go on to win that game and the series en route to their third straight championship.
Conspiracy theorists would say the NBA, not wanting to see a Finals matchup stationed in New Jersey where the Eastern Conference champion Nets played, and Sacramento, decided to swing the odds in the Lakers’ favor.
To this day, most people would agree that the King should’ve won that series, but because of their location compared to the Lakers, some would argue it put them at a disadvantage that had nothing to do with basketball.
If the Raptors want to get to their first NBA Finals in franchise history, they might have to experience some large-market bias as well.
The Boston Celtics, a possible conference finals opponent, boast the most championships in league history. The NBA would love nothing more than to sell the storyline of Boston’s return to glory.
While the Cleveland Cavaliers may not have a luxurious market, LeBron James, who is a market all by himself, brings with him a bevy of storylines and narratives that make any Finals matchup intriguing.
This notion that the Raptors are a small-market team because they’re geographically separated from the NBA landscape is ludicrous. In a hockey-driven country, the people of Toronto love their Raptors.
Toronto’s ranked no lower than fourth in attendance over the past three seasons, with plenty of fans watching playoff games from outside the Air Canada Centre in what has been dubbed “Jurassic Park.”
Their team ambassador, Drake, is one of the best music moguls in the world, giving the team a connection to today’s era of young ballplayers.
Commissioner Adam Silver should hope the Finals head north. Since taking over the position in 2014, Silver has always been about innovation and new ways to change the game for the better. What better way is there to do that than bringing the pinnacle of basketball outside of the United States?
Canadian-born players like Tristian Thompson and Andrew Wiggins cite the influence that Raptors-great Vince Carter had on their careers. Seeing the NBA played at its highest level could influence an entirely new generation of ballers from Canada, which goes back to Adam Silver’s continued drive to globalize the game.
Next: 2017-18 Week 24 NBA Power Rankings
This is not supposed to mean that the NBA should rig the playoffs, allowing the Raptors into the Finals, but if Toronto contending for a championship is where the current is taking them, the NBA shouldn’t fight it. While there wouldn’t be an abundance of storylines, the ripple effect would be monumental.