Even across an entire ocean, the Toronto Raptors — especially Fred VanVleet — have a famous fan in Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
The Kingston, Ont.-born, Vancouver-raised musician is on the road with his Shine A Light tour in Europe, before he arrives in Canada for seven dates including July 4 at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage which he opened 25 years ago, but that hasn’t stopped him from watching the Raps in action.
“I saw one game on television the other day — the one that they won,” said Adams, 59, down the line from a tour stop in Stuttgart, Germany.
“I put a tweet out congratulating them.”
Adams was referring to Game 4 in Oakland which saw Fred VanVleet take an elbow to the face by Warriors player Shaun Livingston and get seven stitches and chip a tooth as a result.
After the game, Bryan Adams tweeted out: “Great game for the Toronto @Raptors tonight. @FredVanVleet.”
When asked if all the excitement over basketball made him wish Vancouver still had an NBA team — the Grizzlies franchise arrived in 1995 (the same year as the Raps in Toronto) before relocating to Memphis following the 2000-2001 season — Adams said: “I’m OK with the Raptors.”
Game 6 goes Thursday night in Oakland and the Raps lead 3-2.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
