Drake dominates talk before Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors meet in NBA Finals
Updated
As the NBA play-offs reach their conclusion this week with the best-of-seven game Final series between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, one individual is attracting a significant number of headlines.
It's not Raptors star Kawhi Leonard — whose dramatic buzzer-beating shot knocked out Ben Simmons' 76ers.
Nor is it Golden State's Stephen Curry — or indeed any of their bevvy of stars, including Australia's own Andrew Bogut.
No.
Instead, coaches and players are being asked about a man who has played zero minutes of NBA during his career and stands at just 182 centimetres tall.
![Toronto beats Philadelphia with a buzzer-beater Kawhi Leonard, centre, sits down as Joel Embiid, left, leans and another man in a black shirt gasps, with his arms outstretched](http://web.archive.org./web/20190601192510im_/https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11107352-3x2-700x467.jpg)
'There's boundaries and lines for a reason'
Aubrey Drake Graham, 32, better known simply as Drake, is one of the biggest names in music — and now, apparently, basketball too.
In a sport not unaccustomed to attracting celebrity supporters, Toronto Raptors' super fan Drake is taking things to another level.
Drake is not afraid of stirring the pot with his music, but his latest foray into the heads of the Raptors' NBA rivals is a different proposition for the 32-year-old star.
In his role as a "global ambassador" for the Raptors, Drake has been creating plenty of highlights on and off the court this post-season.
During the dramatic Eastern Conference Finals series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Drake jumped out of his chair to give Toronto coach Nick Nurse a soothing back massage during game four, the culmination of a series of incidents that had some in the NBA irked.
When asked about it the following day, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer professed to not being a fan.
![Drake gets very excited on the sideline Drake closes his eyes and screams with his hands bent in front of his body as other spectators look on](http://web.archive.org./web/20190601192510im_/https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11163882-3x2-700x467.jpg)
"There's certainly no place for fans and, you know, whatever it is exactly that Drake is for the Toronto Raptors … to be on the court," Budenholzer said.
"There's boundaries and lines for a reason, and like I said, the league is usually pretty good at being on top of stuff like that."
The Raptors ended up beating the Bucks 4-2 in the series to advance to the NBA Finals.
Did Drake's antics put the Bucks off and help his beloved Raptors win the series?
It's unlikely — but they did get everyone talking, which is kind of the point in an era where content is king.
Even the NBA were talking according to ESPN, although in their case it was to the Raptors about Drake's activity during the Eastern Conference Finals.
It's not the first time the NBA has been forced to get involved.
Drake earned a rebuke from the organisation last year after he confronted Kendrick Perkins in a match between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Raptors.
'Drake can't shoot'
The Warriors are playing a pretty straight bat to the Drake question.
Coach Steve Kerr resorted to humour when asked about the rapper's potential impact, before retorting that the Warriors had their own celebrity rapper in their corner.
"I'm not worried about Drake. I called him on his cell phone earlier," Kerr said, cheekily referencing some of Drake's lyrics.
"I kind of think it's fun and the NBA kind of embraces the pop culture dynamic of the league and the stars and the celebrities who are out there," Kerr elaborated in an interview with ESPN.
"And we got [rapper] E-40 ready for them too, so we're in good shape."
Draymond Green on the other hand, highlighted that the only area the Warriors were going to be beaten was on the court.
"Drake can't shoot. Nor can he pass," Green said earlier this month.
"You ever seen Drake play basketball?"
Regardless as to Drakes proficiency on the court, the Raptors players have spoken about how Drake is getting in people's heads
"I like having Drake on the sideline," Norman Powell said to ESPN.
"He's a great supporter, and it's funny how his passion for the team's really affecting the opponents.
"Having opposing coaches come out … you can see it's bothering them."
Drake taking the NBA back to the future
Celebrity fans getting close to the action is nothing new in the NBA.
Celebrated film director Spike Lee has been a fierce supporter of the New York Knicks for years, and it was his court-side antics in 1994 that started the trend of celebrity fans overstepping the mark.
Lee memorably delivered an expletive-laden tirade at Scottie Pippen after the Chicago Bulls star dunked over Pat Ewing during the Eastern Conference finals.
Pre-social media, this story kept American newspaper editors going for weeks, and polarised opinion after Lee broke the unwritten rule that fans should not, directly at least, interact with players on the court.
The trend of A-List superstars courting controversy in the NBA has continued since then.
For decades, three-time Oscar winning actor Jack Nicholson has been a ubiquitous presence court-side at the LA Lakers.
Nicholson reportedly even had it written into his contract that, for some films, he will not film during Lakers home games.
In 2003 though, Nicholson was almost kicked out of the stadium after stepping onto the court and abusing a referee during a play-off match between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.
Entertainment the key
![Toronto fans hold up a Drake sign Toronto fans in red shirts bang white thunder sticks together and hold up a cut out depicting Drake's face](http://web.archive.org./web/20190601192510im_/https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/11163636-3x2-700x467.jpg)
The NBA embraces the celebrity-driven culture to great effect, and Drake's antics have certainly elevated the interest in an already fascinating finals series — even if some are just calling it a sideshow.
And it's true that the Raptors' opponents have been keeping an eye on Drake's sideline activities.
Steph Curry even went as far as to say that he had enjoyed the show.
"It's been entertaining," Curry told ESPN.
"I know it's a tricky situation with him being right there on the court, but at the end of the day he's having fun.
"You can't hate on nobody having fun.
"Well, I guess in this life everybody hates on people having fun. So it's par for the course on that one."
Whether he'll still be as complimentary if Drake is still celebrating at the end of the series remains to be seen.
Topics: sport, basketball, united-states, canada
First posted