In the intense competition for jobs with the Raptors — for the riches the position would bring, the prestige, the opportunity that comes with it — it would be easy to paint it as a cutthroat fight for survival among rivals.
And then Sam Dekker sits on the podium, one of three young men fighting for one or maybe two end-of-the-roster positions, and he puts it all in the right perspective.
“It’s the weakness of a man to root for someone to fail,” Dekker said this past week.
Refreshing. And in speaking with the three candidates for the jobs — Dekker, Isaac Bonga and Ish Wainright — it’s a thread they have in common.