This is yet another book that has been in my Amazon WishList for a while. And after reading other genres of books for a few months, I needed a basketball sports one and this was it.
Alex Wong tells the story of how the Toronto Raptors came to life and their first year in 1995, as he interviewed more than 100 people involved (from the owner to the players to the mascot to the front office staff). I liked reading about the expansion draft, the draft, and how the players on that 1995 came to be. The stories of the front office staff and how most of them got started was inspiring to me. It was mostly about the first season, but he did mention very quickly the rest and even the NBA Championship they won in 2019.
This is one of the first books, where as I was reading it, I was also jotting down some notes for this review as I kept seeing a repeating link between the 1995 Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs. Now, I am a fan of the Spurs so just let me ramble for a minute.
Several former San Antonio Spurs players were on that 1995 Raptor team: Alvin Robertson, Willie Anderson, Tony Massenburg, Tracey Murray, and Chris Whitney. Who scored the first bucket? Well, it was Alvin Robertson! Alvin and Willie, and along with the General manager Isaiah Thomas, helped make the rookie Damon Stoudamire into one heck of a player. Damon even played for the Spurs in 2008!
The Raptors were in need of a scoreboard, and the Spurs had one as they were already playing in the Alamodome in 1995. So, it was dismantled and shipped to the Skydome in Toronto.
The mascot for the Raptors reached out to the Spurs Coyote for advice.
Overall, an awesome choice for me as I really enjoyed it.
