BEYOND THE COURT
ON JUNE 17, 2019, I ARRIVED at an already half-full Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto at 6:30 AM ready to be a part of history. For the first time ever, a National Basketball Association (NBA) championship parade was going to take place in Canada. The Toronto Raptors had beaten the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals four days earlier and the energy in the city was still palpable. It quickly became evident that everyone had underestimated just how big the event would be, as over one million people ended up lining the streets of the downtown core.
Like sardines in a can left to roast in the sun, I was among a hundred thousand fans in and around the square who waited hours for the delayed convoy of Raptors to make their appearance. What struck me most as I observed the sea of diverse faces was just how much the sport has evolved globally since I was a kid. Although hockey still dominates the Canadian landscape, it is far easier now to access NBA and WNBA content. The sheer number of basketball documentaries and docuseries being released these days has given those who played the game a chance to finally tell their own stories. Through their eyes, we see that basketball is more than a sport; it is a microcosm of society at large, one
