The 2018/2019 NBA playoffs are finally ending as the Toronto Raptors face the two-time defending champions, The Golden State Warriors. The legendary match-up has been making headlines because it’s Toronto’s first time making it to the NBA finals! Golden State has been going around the media basically expecting to beat them while enjoying making fun of the team. In addition to that, Drake has also made his way up there in the newsworthy headlines.
If you’ve been confused about why Drake’s name has been coming up a lot during every game of the NBA playoffs and for days after, there are some great reasons.
To sum it up, Drake is a die-hard Toronto Raptors fan because that’s his hometown team. He’s also the Raptors official International Team Ambassador, so he’s basically promoting the team and giving them buzz. So doing what he does best, Drake brought some hilarious drama and antics to the court when he was attending. He’s been everything from passionate to savage by his actions, fashion and social media trolling.
Here’s the summary from half way through the entire playoff run since there’s been so much to cover!
May 19
During the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, Drake started to completely act out. He was waving goodbye to the other team, jumping around and yelling slang only Toronto natives would understand. Regardless, it made for great entertainment. This tweet summarizes his night very well.
May 21
Doing what Drake does best, he brought even more bipolar activity to the court side. He was seen insulting the other team’s players and getting in their heads. He also massaged Toronto’s coach after a stressful play and literally jumped out of his seat for random reasons.
After this game, the NBA officials had to speak to the Toronto Raptors and Drake about his courtside behavior, but even that didn’t stop him.
May 23
Although Drake wasn’t even on the Bucks’ home turf for the next game, the daughter of the team’s owner, Mallory Edens, poked the rapper by wearing a shirt with Pusha T’s face on it. For those who don’t remember, that’s Drake’s enemy and the rapper who exposed him for having a child. So, Drake took to social media to get under a few more peoples skin. So he made his profile picture a photo of Edens and commented about her and the team in his story.
May 25
In what turned out to be the final game of the Eastern Conference Championship where Toronto won, Drizzy pulled out all the stops to get under the team’s skin one last time. Not only did he wear a sweater that said “Kawhi Me a River” (referring to Toronto’s star player Kwahi Leonard), he was all over the place, waving them goodbye out the building, playing an air piano, and chirping like a mad man.
He also tried to fight a player at one point when he gave him lip. It will go down as one of my new favorite “hold me back” gifs of all time.
May 30
Yet again, the rapper was scolded by NBA commissioners for his behavior and was told to cool it down. So for game one of the NBA finals, Drake decided to go into full troll mode instead of acting out physically and didn’t stop the entire game.
As many sports fans know, NBA legend Steph Curry’s dad used to play for the Toronto Raptors, so the Curry family spent a lot of time in the Raptors arena. So to “pay tribute” to Steph’s dad, Drake wore a signed Dell Curry jersey from his time in Toronto. Steph and his dad who was in the crowd were seen laughing and hugging him when they noticed the jersey.
Fans also noticed that he strategically wore a Nike sweatband on his arm to cover up some of his tattoos. The tattoos he was covering? His Steph Curry and Kevin Durant Golden State tribute tats.
And as if it didn’t get even funnier than it already was, Drake was a little hurt that Golden State player Klay Thompson openly said the team won’t be playing Hotline Bling during any of the playoffs. He’s also been calling him Aubrey publicly since the self-inflicted ban. So after Thompson got a technical foul, Drake hit him with the Hotline Bling dance in one of the most savage moments of the Raptors playoffs run so far!
Oh, and as if he couldn’t get even more savage, his after game’s antics proved otherwise.
As the Warriors walked off the court with their heads hung low after a loss to the Raptors, the 6God reminded them whose home they’re in and exchanged some pretty rough words with opposing player Draymond Green.
Before the game, he was seen catching up briefly with his friend (and temporary enemy) Steph Curry. He was even seen picking a piece of fluff or lint out of his hair. After the Raptors won, Drake savagely posted that he was selling the lint removed from Curry’s hair on eBay. Fans noticed he listed it under the user DraymondShouldntWear23 (which is a jab at the player he just exchanged words with) and the highest bid was at $100,000 before it got removed.
Luckily Steph’s wife Ayesha Curry, who is also from Toronto, found good humor in it and suggested in the comment section where they should donate the proceeds of the purchase.
June 2
During game two of the finals, news broke three hours before the game that Golden State’s key player Kevin Durant might return from an injury to compete in the game. However, that wasn’t the case, as the team denied those reports. So to provoke Golden State, Drake showed up wearing a sweater with Kevin from Home Alone on it. Even Macaulay Culkin noticed and played along with his joke.
But as the game intensified, Golden State soon found themselves outplaying the home team and were rubbing it equally in Drake’s face. And suddenly we were all brought back to the sad Drake meme days by his hilarious depressed looks. He also changed his sweater to a normal Toronto Raptors one.
At the end of the game, Drake even had the opportunity to meet up with former US President Barack Obama. In which Obama asked him if he behaved himself this game like the strict father figure to the world he is, and did it in front of the NBA Commissioner who told him to simmer down. Who knew 44 was so savage too?
But then came the real drama that has everyone invested and anticipating more.
As if Drizzy’s playful hoodie didn’t cause enough drama for the visiting team, he also exchanged some intense words with Golden State player Klay Thompson. And Drake made Klay very in his feelings despite his team’s upset win. Thompson called him a “bum ass” (real mature) and the players all started calling him Aubrey to try and get under his skin.
Say what you will but Drake has been a defining presence at this year’s playoffs whether you like him or not. And some of his antics have brought some much-needed entertainment to the game. Even those who don’t understand basketball are amused by the headlines we’re reading and can’t wait to see how much more political he gets.
So now the Raps are tied with the Warriors with one win each, so the series is tied. Game three of the NBA Finals will be on Wednesday night in Golden State. So will he be there? Will the Raptors win it all as Gods Plan intended? Or will Golden State win their third straight Championship title or will Toronto win their first-ever title in franchise history? Will everyone stop calling him Aubrey? When will the madness end!?
Either way, I’m very excited to see what continues to happen because aside from the hilarious trolling, the level of basketball is very entertaining to watch. So stay tuned for the next dramatic chapter in this sag, and keep an eye out for Drake’s social media and iTunes. I have a feeling a diss track will be released next.
Featured image via Unsplash
