Could the Raptors play from somewhere other than Toronto next season?
It’s not impossible, considering ongoing restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border. While the NBA is working to sort out how the next season of professional basketball will be played, a certain U.S. mayor is already putting in a bid for the Raptors to come to his city.
It might mean changing the slogan from “we the north,” however, to “we the midwest” when the new season kicks off in late December.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas made a bilingual plea on Twitter Tuesday for the Raptors to make the move to Missouri, suggesting the team would feel right at home in the cold there.
“Good morning, Kansas City! It’s currently 13 degrees colder here than in Toronto (7 degrees Celsius). #WeTheNorth,” Lucas wrote in English and French.
Though Canadians in the replies were quick to make a few corrections, including to Lucas’s well-intentioned, if not entirely accurate, French.
And of the time-honoured Canadian political tradition of sending separate Tweets in both English and French.
Lucas also acknowledged he wasn’t just appealing to Toronto, but all of Canada.
While it’s fun to joke about Lucas’s misplayed bilingual shoutout, Kansas City is actually legitimately bidding for the Raptors to come. With border restrictions between Canada and the U.S. extended again and COVID-19 cases continuing to skyrocket, it’s unlikely the team will be able to travel back and forth across the border.
The same thing happened to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this year, and the team temporarily relocated to Buffalo, N.Y., Kansas City, Louisville, Ky., Hartford, Conn., and the New York area have all been floated as possible temporary homes for the Raptors.
Alongside other political leaders in Missouri and Kansas, Lucas co-signed a formal letter to the NBA and Raptors ownership outlining the bid for Kansas City to host the Raptors.
For the record, Kansas City Chiefs MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes is also in on it.
So is Chiefs player (and Canadian doctor) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
No word on if Drake’s role with the team will be fulfilled by fellow Raptor and noted Missourian, Eminem however.