Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
It has been 128 years since Canadian James Naismith invented the game of basketball and in the time the NBA championship had never crossed the border and returned ‘home’.
That was until the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors last Thursday to secure the teams, and Canada’s, first ever title.
The Warriors were reigning champions, having won both the 2017 and 2018 play-offs, and were hot favourites to complete the ‘three-peat’ against the Raptors. It wasn’t to be. Toronto won the final game 114-110 to take the series 4-2.
The historic win made the players national heroes instantly, receiving plaudits from the masses - everyone from PM Justin Trudeau to rapper Drake.
Disappointment for the Warriors in their last ever home game at the Oracle Arena, 47 years after they played their first, but an achievement that is still being celebrated in Toronto.
