For many players who come to the Toronto Raptors, there’s a bit of uncertainty about what life will be like playing for Canada’s only NBA team.
While the organization has raised its profile since its inception in 1995, the team’s unique location has often seen it as much lower down on the priority list for players around the league.
Few people know that feeling more than former Raptor Charles Oakley, who spent three seasons with the franchise after being traded away from the New York Knicks in 1998.
A one-time All-Star during his time with the Knicks, Oakley’s Raptors made the playoffs in his second season with the squad, a first in franchise history.
“I knew it was a hockey town, but the guys who came in with me had a different attitude,” Oakley said. “[We] know that we’re here for a reason: to win games and make sure the fans are happy… as a player with a new team, you’re just trying to show you can make a difference.”
Oakley’s time in Toronto also saw the franchise’s first-ever playoff series win the following year, beating his old Knicks squad after being swept out of the postseason a year prior.
It would be another 15 years after he departed Toronto before the team won two playoff series in a year, advancing to the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, and 18 years before they won it all, winning a historic 2019 NBA title.
And much like how he was brought to Toronto, it was a blockbuster trade — the much-heralded swap with the San Antonio Spurs that brought Kawhi Leonard back in a deal centred around DeMar DeRozan — that put the franchise over the top as eventual champions.
“You can just see how much this city embraced that [team], how much energy they had, like never before,” Oakley said. “It was special.”
While it wasn’t a trade, Oakley likened the injection of new life the franchise got from Leonard to a high-profile free agent running that directly influenced the Super Bowl champions earlier this month.
“You never know when you get a superstar what could happen,” Oakley said. “Look at the Philadelphia Eagles this year with [Saquon] Barkley.”
Toronto is hoping to have found their next star player via a recent trade for Brandon Ingram, coming over from the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this month. Oakley believes that much like his Raptors team, Ingram will be motivated to bring Toronto back to the postseason sooner than later.
“He’s been on some teams that have been in the playoffs, but have never won nothing,” Oakley said. “He can do a lot, he can score, he’s a go-to guy. With RJ Barrett, [Immanuel] Quickley, [and Scottie] Barnes, he can raise the temperature. I think next year they’ll be a playoff team, with the transition they made to keep him and the other guys.”
Oakley’s take on Toronto’s restaurant scene
A self-proclaimed picky eater, Oakley made sure to make the most of the city’s food scene during his three years with the team.
“I never ate so much soup in my life as being in Toronto, a lot of great soup,” he said. “I’m so picky, but [I ate at] a lot of great steakhouses, a lot of great Italian food.”
And he’s bringing that passion to a new partnership with Hellman’s Canada, as one of their featured guests in the Raptor Kitchen series on YouTube featuring the team’s mascot as a chef, with other special guests like Chef Z, Kayla Grey, and Nav Bhatia.
Oakley will be making Oak-smoked Brisket in his episode which launches on March 7.
“As an ex-player in Canada for three years, and with a Canadian brand… it’s all about teamwork. It’s gonna be a great combo,” Oakley said.
