Real change. That is what the NBA and by extension the Toronto Raptors are looking for as they take aim at the social injustices and inequalities around them today.
From league management to team ownership to team management and right through the coaching ranks to the players, affecting change and using the platforms a career in the NBA provides them has been the goal since the conversation started in earnest with the death of George Floyd.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and assistant Jim Sann were no different than any members of the NBA family. They wanted to find their own way to make positive societal change and together they have tackled the issue of absentee voting.
Nurse and Sann, with the help of the Raptors and the fine production people who bring you those wildly popular Open Gym episodes produced a PSA.
“We wanted to help spread the word on voting, we found out there was more than 650,000 United States citizens living in (Canada) and hardly any of them vote,” Nurse said following the Raptors practice Sunday in Orlando.
“We made some contacts, we thought we could use our platform with the Raptors and, just again, make awareness to it and actually show people how simple it is,” Nurse said of the voting process when you’re living outside the U.S.
“Tell them what the website is, and kind of keep that message now that we’ve got some of this stuff done.”
Nurse, an Iowa native, has spent a large chunk of his adult years living outside the U.S. and readily admits he didn’t always make it a priority to carry through with his civic duty around election time.
“I’m a good candidate,” he said of the target audience for the PSA which features both coaches as well as a handful of the Raptors players pointing out the importance of voting and where and how American citizens living in Canada can actually vote. “I’ve lived in four different countries and I haven’t exercised my right to vote enough over the years. There’s no excuses anymore, so get out there and show people how to do it and pave the way.”
U.S. citizens in Canada looking to exercise their voting privileges can start with a visit to www.fvap.gov.
Matt Thomas, one of the Raptors players who helped out with the PSA, explained his motivation to be a part of it.
“Obviously, right now with everything going on in our country I think it’s very important that everyone’s voice is heard and that’s just one way for us Americans living outside of the States to vote and make our voice heard,” he said.
STAYING CONTAINED
The Raptors had a day off Saturday from scheduled practice but Nurse didn’t stray far from his hotel room despite admitting he feels safer within the campus now than he did when he arrived. The options aren’t exactly vast were he a little more inclined to do some exploring.
“I hear there’s a nice little trail you can go run or bike on that’s within the grounds,” he said. “I see a lot of people fishing out there on the lake that is right next to the hotel but I’m not much of a fisherman. I mean, I fish a little bit but I’m more of a ‘at grandpa’s farm, throw it in, catch some small fish, have fun with the kids’ type of fisherman.”
Nurse is quite content to focus on his team right now and figure out ways to help them navigate through the upcoming playoffs.
“I have not done a lot of venturing out, I’m sorry to say,” Nurse admitted. “It does feel safe, though, from that standpoint. I’ve been just been trying to get back to speed, concentrating on players, watching a lot of tape. I didn’t watch a ton during the pandemic, to be honest with you. I’m one of those people that starts their paper for college about three days before it’s due. So I’m watching a lot more tape now that the games are approaching.”
NOT IN ANY RUSH
There’s no question how Pascal Siakam fares over the next couple of months is going to go a long way to determining how far the Raptors go. He’s the first option in most of the Raptors’ offensive threats and the primary scorer with Kawhi Leonard now playing his basketball in Los Angeles.
So a week into practices inside the NBA campus in Orlando, Siakam was asked just where he is at physically right now following the longest absence he has had from a basketball court since he began playing the game.
“To be honest, right now I’m not worried about being 100% or feeling like I’m all the way there,” he said of his conditioning. “I think it’s going to be a process. I think the goal for us as a team, not just me, is to just peak at the right time. That’s what I’m focused on and continue to work gradually toward being the best, or playing my best basketball, when it matters the most. So it’s going to be a process, and we’re just learning every day, getting better.”
QUICK HITS
Good line from rookie Matt Thomas when asked if he has taken any money from veteran Kyle Lowry on the golf course since the two started playing together down in Florida. “You know, what happens on the golf course stays on the golf course,” he said … The National Basketballl Players Association and Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook are teaming up to answer the players need for more say in the social justice slogans idea that seems to have fallen a little short in the estimation of some players including Raptors guard Norm Powell. The feeling is the 29 slogans agreed to by the league and the NBPA don’t allow the players enough freedom to express their own feelings about the issue of social inequality. So Westbrook’s clothing brand has created new T-shirts that players will probably be able to wear during the warm-up and during press briefings that employ an additional 11 slogans including Powell’s choice ‘Am I Next?’.
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