Bryan Colangelo had called in the dead of summer in 2007 suggesting that a chat with his newest hire, the director of global scouting, might be worthwhile.
An interesting guy, the Raptors’ president and general manager said, well-versed in the growing globalization of the game. A Nigerian who’d bounced from continent to continent, expanding his network of basketball contacts while developing a world view that was unique among sports executives at the time.
So there we were, in a tiny office atop Union Station overlooking some railway tracks one Saturday morning, and it was illuminating.