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Jonathan White

Drake has proved a divisive figure in recent weeks, which is nothing new for the rapper, it’s just unusual that it is down to his presence on a basketball court.
He is the Toronto Raptors’ number one fan and employed by the team as an ambassador.
There have been plenty of column inches, or their digital equivalent, lauding his effect on getting people talking about the franchise and on turning the NBA into a fun league, arguably the most fun among North American sports.
But if he is an ambassador should he not behave like one?

Drake #WeTheNorth | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/SuHZzatmYa
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) 22 May 2019

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His are among the worst ambassadorial antics since those trigger-happy South Africans kept trying to play the diplomatic immunity card in Lethal Weapon 2.
The Six God, Drizzy, Champagne Papi and October’s Very Own, Drake goes by plenty of names but they will have come up with a few more in Milwaukee after the Eastern Conference Finals, where he was front and centre as the Raptors came back from two games down to take the series 4-2.


If he wasn’t rubbing the shoulders of Raptors coach Nick Nurse, he was making a show of league MVP Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo missing free throws or wearing a “Kahwi Me a River” sweater, as a nod to his own team’s superstar Kahwi Leonard.
He also appeared to be the first man to sport an NBA Finals cap when the buzzer went on the series win, mugging for the cameras before any of the players and then mugging some more all over his Instagram.
Needless to say, some people thought all this a bit much, that he’s become a right pain in the hoop.

Drake might want to cover up these Steph Curry & KD tattoos for the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/r2iPhHaD8k
— theScore (@theScore) 26 May 2019

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Stop whining, his defenders say, but how about stop encouraging this tawdry fandom? It’s gone too far – he’s a fan not a player.
Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green looked exasperated when he was asked about the rapper’s role in the finals.
Green looked like a man determined to make Drake, or at least the Raptors, pay when asked “How you gonna handle Drake?” A study in disdain encompasses his face over the next 30 seconds as he says the following:

"HAVE YOU EVER SEEN @Drake PLAY BASKETBALL?" @Money23Green shades the "6 God" when asked how he'll handle the rapper if the @warriors play the @Raptors in the #NBAFinals https://t.co/rwXb15IMcK pic.twitter.com/Azm8SVS9MX
— KPIX 5 (@KPIXtv) 24 May 2019

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“Drake can’t shoot, nor can he pass. Have you ever seen Drake play basketball? I saw a couple highlights – they wasn’t so hot, so I really don’t care.”
What we should care about is the ballsy trade that brought Leonard to Toronto for this season, or Jeremy Lin’s late career resurgence seeing him get to a first showpiece, or the fact that it is Canada’s first ever NBA Finals.
Maybe this social media LOL-athon is just sport in 2019?



 

 
 


 


View this post on Instagram

 


 
 
 


 
 


 
 
 



 
 

A post shared by Mallory B. Edens (@mallory_edens) on May 23, 2019 at 9:42pm PDT



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Mallory Edens, the daughter of Bucks owner Wes Edens, took Drake’s antics in her stride, pointedly wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a photo of Pusha T, the Clipse rapper who has a long-standing beef with Drake.
That did not phase the Raptors superfan, though. Fittingly for a man called Drake, criticism is like water off a duck’s back.
He went on social media to own the joke, changing his profile picture to one of Edens and putting her on his Instagram story. “All is fair in war and war,” he wrote.

Yo @drake When the ball is in-play sit the FCK down! That aint gonna fly in Oakland! #GlorifiedMascot @warriors @Raptors @NBA @E40
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) 26 May 2019

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It’s a war that Drake seems to be winning. The fans and the media love him. He has also formed a close relationship with the Raptors players, with many of them publicly interacting with their rap-bassador on Instagram.
Lin, a former Golden State Warriors player, even apologised to Drake for missing his fist bump during a recent game. Elsewhere, it has been reported he was face-timing the locker room in the aftermath of the biggest win in franchise history.
But might the players come to regret their association with the rapper, as he is fast becoming the first Canadian to make you forget that Canadians are meant to be likeable?

Drake when the Warriors go up in the series. pic.twitter.com/J15pPArEav
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) 28 May 2019

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No one outside the Bay Area wanted to see the Warriors extend their dominance over the NBA this season with a fourth ring in five years but Drake’s gurning might just force a rethink.
One of the teams has to lose these finals but even if it is the Raptors, that might still be a win for Drake.
The rapper has tattoos of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant’s jersey numbers on one arm and he has long worn Warriors gear on stage.
That means that either way, the so-called “Drake Curse” – where teams whose jerseys he has worn on stage do not win – will continue.


Pro-Drake:
The Canadian rapper and Toronto Raptors superfan is great for the game and reflects the current culture much like Spike Lee did, argues Patrick Blennerhassett.


Patrick Blennerhassett 
Patrick Blennerhassett 


Surely it is better for basketball that Steve Kerr’s super team win again rather than Drake does?
If that happens then his courtside circus act might be the biggest curse of Drake yet.
The opposite is unthinkable: that the rest of the NBA wheels out the most famous man in town to make a show of himself from the sidelines.

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NBA (National Basketball Association)

NBA Finals: Drake’s antics as a Toronto Raptors ambassador might make everyone a Golden State Warriors fan

Rapper Drake reacts in game four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors. Photo: AFP

2019 NBA Finals: Drake is Spike Lee for Millennials, so get over yourself and enjoy him

The Toronto Raptors are capitalising on Drake’s celebrity. Photo: AP

TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 21: Rapper Drake reacts in game four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on May 21, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Toronto Raptors fans hold up a photo of Toronto-born performer Drake during the first half of Game 6 of the team's NBA basketball playoffs Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, May 25, 2019, in Toronto. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

epa07601165 Canadian rapper Drake (R) congratulates Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (L) at the conclusion of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals basketball game six between the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, 25 May 2019. EPA-EFE/WARREN TODA SHUTTERSTOCK OUT

ATL03:SPORTS-NBA:ATLANTA,GEORGIA,20NOV97 - Film director Spike Lee (L) shakes hands with boxing champion Evander Holyfield during Atlanta Hawks verses New York Knicks NBA game in Atlanta November 20. Lee congratulated Holyfield on his recent defeat of Michael Moorer. jo/jk/Photo by John Kuntz REUTERS

Filmmaker Spike Lee (R), a New York Knicks season ticket-holder, talks with the musician formerly known as Prince (L) during the NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden 08 February. The Eastern Conference All-Stars beat the Western Conference 135-114. AFP PHOTO/Tim CLARY

Sport

Basketball

Rapper and franchise ambassador has been front and centre during the team’s run to a first finals
Defending champions have been asked how they will deal with Drake


Rapper and franchise ambassador has been front and centre during the team’s run to a first finals


Drake

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Opinion

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Rapper and franchise ambassador has been front and centre during the team’s run to a first finals Defending champions have been asked how they will deal with Drake

Rapper and franchise ambassador has been front and centre during the team’s run to a first finals

Defending champions have been asked how they will deal with Drake