Ready To Launch (An excerpt from the book “The True Stories of Canadian Basketball”)
How the Toronto Raptors came to define basketball in Canada
John Lashway is standing on a packed train platform on a May evening in downtown Toronto. Even for a city as busy and ever-moving as Toronto, there is a certain buzz in the air that is atypical. This is because the grand majority of the people gathered have all come to the station for the same reason. They are hoping to witness one of the greatest moments in Toronto sports history.
And even though it may have once seemed impossible, they’re all wearing Toronto Raptors jerseys.
For Lashway, this moment is even more special. It was 25 years ago that he moved from his job close to home with the Portland Trail Blazers to begin working with the expansion Raptors. Moving to a new team, for a new job in a new country was certainly a risk for Lashway. He passed up on a chance to work with the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets to join the Raptors as their Vice President of Communications. While it may have seemed like the unwise move at the time, Lashway was ecstatic about the opportunity.
“It was uncharted territory and I was pretty excited, that was really the enticement to come here,” said Lashway, “On a smaller scale it felt like Neil Armstrong, you’re stepping into some really foreign experience hoping to make a positive impact.”
If Lashway was Neil Armstrong, then John Bitove Jr. was Buzz Aldrin.
Bitove, a businessman from Toronto, was always a basketball fan. As a kid, he looked up and down the street, and his driveway was the only one with a basketball net. He had always thought that basketball in Canada deserved to be bigger than it was. This was only amplified after Bitove attended the University of Indiana, a state known for its adoration of the game. It was now his goal to grow basketball in his hometown to the same level.
Bitove’s first idea to bring basketball to Toronto was a successful bid to host the 1994 FIBA World Championships. It was not an immediate hit, and Team Canada only finished seventh. At first glance, it was just a blip in the radar of an otherwise uninspiring basketball history for Canadians. However, it caught the eye of then-NBA commissioner David Stern.
Stern and the NBA had long considered a Canadian expansion, but they had never found the right person to lead a team in the right direction. He applauded Bitove for his determination and passion for basketball. Therefore, when Bitove submitted an application for an NBA franchise in Toronto, Stern approved.
Professional basketball was coming to Canada. It wasn’t just a franchise though. As the founder, Bitove had wanted the team to be more than just an entertainment product. He wanted it to shape the country as a whole.
“The Raptors organization was created not only to build a great basketball team,” said Bitove, “But to bring the culture and the education of basketball to Canadians.”
In order to do that, Bitove, Lashway and the entire Raptors organization had to start from ground zero. The Toronto Maple Leafs had always been the king when it came to sports in Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays had just won back-to-back World Series titles. Kids playing sports in Toronto were playing hockey and baseball, not basketball. Being new to the city, Lashway was shocked.
“I was really amazed as an American to drive around a city and not see any basketball anywhere,” said Lashway, “There was much work to be done. Obviously we had our work cut out for us, but I was pleased with how the Raptors ownership approached putting their organization together. And so I was very optimistic that we would be successful.”
First things first, Toronto’s basketball franchise needed a marketing plan. After lots of discussion, the team settled on the Raptors, named after the universally popular film Jurassic Park. There was a fair bit of backlash from fans and media, citing the name as too childish, or that it didn’t represent the city of Toronto specifically. According to Bitove, there was a method to the madness.
“First of all, we knew that young kids were more into basketball than their parents were. So we targeted a lot of marketing in them,” said Bitove, “And we also knew with new immigrants coming to Canada, that they probably didn’t know and were never really gonna know hockey. But they’d either seen or heard or have played basketball or we were going to get them to.”
With a clear vision of their franchise, and target market in place, the Raptors plan was set. Lastly though, they needed name recognition. A face that was synonymous with basketball worldwide, that could help grow the sport from the ground up. Bitove was able to lure recently retired, soon-to-be Hall of Fame guard Isiah Thomas to become the team’s Executive Vice President.
Thomas’ presence was felt from the very beginning. In the first few years, Bitove and Thomas would personally travel to schools in the community to teach kids about basketball and promote the new team in town. These were not the typical duties of the founder and Vice President of an NBA franchise. Bitove and Thomas were passionate about growing the sport they loved, and knew that the Raptors success depended on it. Lashway watched them work their magic, and came away impressed.
“John had an extremely high level of enthusiasm and passion for the challenge and he didn’t have an ego. [He] was just exactly the right guy to launch this thing,” said Lashway, “Same as Isiah, he has always had the ability to connect with people, you know, whether it’s young kids in the toughest part of the city or the executives of the boardroom.”
Internally, the Raptors were doing everything they could to help spread awareness about their team, and basketball as a whole. The momentum was building, and people all across the city were starting to catch on. However, the media did not. Always known as a hockey market, most of the Toronto media were invested in providing their coverage on the Maple Leafs. They either felt like the Raptors weren’t worth their time, or felt threatened by them.
“The hockey writers in the media, which in those days dominated the newspapers, were doing everything they could to belittle us and trying to get us to leave,” said Bitove, “So we had to overcome that whole hockey mindset, which I would call an older white male crowd, which is why we kind of ignored them.”
In the first few years of Raptors basketball, writers assigned to the games were often drawing the short end of the stick. Basketball was rarely their first choice. The tradition of hockey waned too heavily on the minds of reporters. It even started to trickle over to the television side.
“Watching highlights, hockey truly took the first 25 minutes of a 60 minute newscast. And it was only then they would mention the Raptors,” said Lashway, “There was a concerted pushback from people in the media that really wanted the Raptors to fail. That’s a bold statement. That’s true.”
In order to take control of the Toronto media landscape, Bitove decided he had to take matters into his own hands. He spent hours analyzing the broadcasts of Raptors games in the first couple of years, constantly searching for new ways to improve. At first, it was little things. He realized that the production crew would slightly delay adding points to the score bug, much like is done in hockey. With basketball though, since points were scored so fast, the score changes needed to be instant.
It was small nitpicks like that which slowly, but surely, improved the Raptors’ television broadcast quality. Eventually, they needed to hire personnel to take it to the next level. In stepped Chuck Swirsky and Dan Gladman.
Swirsky, another American import, came to the Raptors from Detroit in 1998. As the team’s new play-by-play broadcaster, his voice was the representation of the team for the thousands of fans tuning in to the game each night. While the seats may not have always been filled in the stadium, Swirsky had to treat each game like it was as important as the one before. He knew that anything he could do to catch the attention of viewers would help the growth of the team.
“I knew the fan base was growing to the degree that I felt the ceiling was extremely high because of the fact that number one, it was fresh, basketball was at an infancy stage,” said Swirsky. “And so when you look at the makeup of the Raptors during those years, with the excitement of playing above the rim every night, it drew a lot of people, not only to the arena, but also on radio and television. I think that really set the dynamics in place for the foundation just to get better.”
For Swirsky, the game was bigger than just Toronto. As an outsider, he had no deep-rooted connection with the city itself. Therefore, he aimed to make his broadcasts connect to viewers across the country. By the early 2000’s, the Raptors were the only NBA franchise in Canada, and their games were usually broadcasted on national television. Swirsky and the broadcast team had the unique opportunity to not only cater to Toronto, but to Canada as a whole.
This idea came to fruition during a random Raptors game. At half-time, Swirsky received an email from a fan. It was signed with their name and their hometown. As a token of gratitude for the email, Swirsky waited for the next three pointer, then shouted “ring it up from downtown” followed by the fan’s hometown.
Suddenly, emails started pouring in left and right. Every Raptors fan wanted their city or town to be featured on the Raptors broadcast. Swirsky would announce one new location every game after a three point basket. That way, fans would have to tune in to keep the suspense of whether their town would get the air time they were hoping for. From Victoria, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland, Swirsky would give them their ten seconds of fame. Thanks to that small little line, an entire country of Raptors fans started to grow. For Swirsky though, it was all about the audience.
“When I did mention their name I would always receive an email back. They would not believe they were walking the hallways at school and they heard their town’s name mentioned on the Raptor game,” said Swirsky, “And so that was the biggest thrill, just providing enjoyment for our viewers.”
Gladman came on board just a few years after Swirsky as an associate producer, and eventually the lead producer on Raptors broadcasts. His enthusiasm for basketball and the Raptors in particular stemmed from a childhood in Toronto when basketball was far less popular. For him, his job was more than an occupation, it was a way to ensure his hometown would have young basketball fans for years to come.
“Nobody cared. We were looked at as the weird kids in school cause we liked basketball. You know, it was hockey, hockey, hockey,” said Gladman, “I remember boys in those days wearing baseball caps. But it was always a baseball team. It was never an NBA team. “
While Bitove and Lashway were working away in the front office, helping to grow the game in Canada, Swirsky and Gladman were doing the same on television. In the same way that the Raptors may have never succeeded without Bitove’s determination and willingness to spread his love of basketball to Canadians, it also goes for Swirsky’s passion broadcasted around the country.
“Chuck Swirsky was the most famous broadcaster for the Raptors in those days. And I think his enthusiasm for the team really translated as well and helped to sell the team,” said Gladman, “I think that broadcast definitely contributed to the popularity of the Raptors and the sport and the league in general.”
The early years for the Toronto Raptors were not easy, but how could it have been with so many things stacked against them? They were an expansion franchise in a city and a country with virtually no basketball experience or knowledge. They were in a media market that was invested in the popularity of hockey, and not wanting anything to stand in their way of that. Sure, the countless hours that the hard working staff put in made a huge difference. The biggest difference though, were the fans.
“People wanted to belong to something bigger than themselves. And there wasn’t an opportunity for the great majority of people to really be a part of the Maple Leafs,” said Lashway, “We made our experience accessible to people of all economic and cultural sectors of the country. And I think that was really important.”
Lashway’s point was echoed throughout the organization. Their accessibility was a major strength that the Raptors looked to take advantage of. Tickets would start at as low as ten dollars, allowing people of all social classes to enjoy a game. The team would host over 300 community events each year, with players spending their time at basketball clinics, or even tasks as simple as bagging groceries. For any Torontonian with a love of basketball, interacting with the Raptors was a commonality.
The Raptors weren’t trying to be like the Maple Leafs. They weren’t trying to be like popular NBA franchises such as the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics. As a whole, the Raptors were extremely focussed on being themselves, and that resonated with everyone.
“[We wanted] to become a key identifier of Toronto internationally, as the Raptors basketball team. Again, part of why we chose the name [Raptors] is we didn’t want one that anyone else was using,” said Bitove, “We wanted it to be unique. And if you said the word Raptors, you always thought of Toronto, Canada.
As Lashway walks from the train platform to Scotiabank Arena, he is in awe with how much has changed. Fans from coast to coast are tuning in to tonight’s game. Many of them were young new immigrants when the Toronto Raptors first debuted in 1995. Just as he and Bitove hoped, these fans gripped onto the team at an early age and never let go. All that Lashway could have hoped for when he joined the team so long ago has come true.
John Lashway is on his way to watch the Raptors play in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Except, he’s coming as a fan, not an employee.
He hasn’t worked for the Raptors in years. Neither has John Bitove. Chuck Swirsky left the team to move back to his old stomping grounds in Chicago. These three men that were so instrumental in growing the Toronto Raptors had not been with the team throughout their wildly successful run as a franchise, making the playoffs seven straight seasons.
Although, the playoff streak may have never occurred if Bitove didn’t fight for the team’s expansion approval in the first place. Or, if he and Isiah Thomas didn’t travel school to school teaching the game to youngsters across the city. It may have never occurred if Swirsky’s enthusiasm for the game didn’t make its way across Canada, one three pointer at a time. It may have never occurred without Lashway’s perseverance and confidence in the Raptors brand.
“I was told you’re going to be in New Orleans or Memphis or Cincinnati [and the team will be sold] in three or four years,” said Lashway, “And we just never believed that. We thought it was ridiculous.”
Lashway takes his seat for the game. He may not know it yet, but the Raptors are days away from winning their first NBA championship. Soon after, over two million people will be gathering in the streets of Toronto to celebrate. It’s certainly a giant leap for basketball in Canada, but for Lashway, being 25 years in the making, it’s just one small step.
