In good and normal NBA times, the Raptors will round up a couple dozen little kids before each game, line them up in front of the players from both teams and let them stand there while the national anthems are performed.
It’s cute, it’s traditional and it makes for a nice quick video presentation on the scoreboard while the songs play on.
But it sticks with the kids, it seems, and the chance to just stand there and smile resonates for years to come.
It certainly did with the youngest player currently in the league, a teenager whose first appearance on an NBA court came as a national anthem prop.