If this was just about basketball, if this was only about the Raptors and their underdog’s quest to defend Canada’s first and only NBA championship, the story would be simple and fun and suspenseful.
Their second-round playoff series against the daunting Boston Celtics is scheduled to begin Thursday evening. After an uneventful sweep against the hapless Brooklyn Nets, this is when the road to the NBA Finals is expected to get drastically more arduous and immeasurably more tension-inducing.
But from the beginning, the NBA’s attempt to crown a champion from the safety of a Disney-based bubble has been about far more than basketball.