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Cold Weather During All-Star Weekend Won’t Hinder Raptors’ Reputation

By Chris Okrainetz

Feb 13, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; General view of an official Spalding basketball on the floor before the NBA All Star Saturday Night at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 13, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; General view of an official Spalding basketball on the floor before the NBA All Star Saturday Night at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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All-Star Weekend was a huge success for both the Toronto Raptors and the city of Toronto, but there’s no getting around it, the weather was an issue.

Everywhere you went this weekend, there was one unanimous opinion among fans, media members, coaches and players: the weather was bitterly cold.

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Of course, the Toronto Raptors, or the NBA for that matter, had no control over this polar vortex sweeping through the Greater Toronto Area during All-Star Weekend. But if this past weekend was your first time being in Toronto during the winter months, you would have thought the whole “We The North” campaign should have been “We The North Pole” instead, which seemed to be a popular phrase being thrown around town.

Trying to convince people that the weather was an anomaly, and not the norm, was a difficult task too. For contextual purposes, Saturday’s temperature of -26 degrees Celsius was the coldest day Torontonians have experienced in over 20 years. So believe us, this was an anomaly.

There were some fans, however, who were worried that this frigid All-Star experience would affect the Raptors chances of luring free agents north of the border. I highly doubt it will, but in all reality, when was the last time the Raptors lured a big name free agent to Toronto anyways?

Aside from DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph this past offseason, the Raptors biggest free agent signings of all-time are arguably Hakeem Olajuwon and Hedo Turkoglu. (Both players were busts in Toronto by the way.)

Toronto Raptors
Feb 14, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Western Conference forward Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (35) dunks the ball against the Eastern Conference during the NBA All Star Game at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports /

Free agency has never been the backbone of the Raptors’ success, but to say one extremely cold All-Star weekend is going to diminish their chances of luring a big free agent to Toronto makes zero sense.

While the complaints about the cold were rampant, there was also an overwhelming amount of compliments being issued out about Toronto. Whether it be celebrities like Snoop Dogg, players like Kevin Durant, or coaches like Gregg Popovich, the city of Toronto was spoken of in very high regard.

I mean, I’m sure spending money at 70 cents on the dollar wasn’t too bad for our friends south of the border. Though the spending won’t be like that on a day-to-day basis in Toronto, prospective players entering free agency this summer certainly won’t shy away from the Raptors because of one subzero experience.

The city is a favourite among players, the team has a strong core in place, both on the court and in the front office, and they’re winning. All of those factors will forever be appealing to an athlete in a metropolis city like Toronto.

Next: Raptors: DeMar DeRozan Aiming to Remain in Toronto

So despite the unusual weather this past weekend, the Raptors still have the same chance at luring free agents to the Six as they did before this weekend. Besides, doesn’t winning trump everything anyways?

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