Drake has been a pretty common sight at Toronto Raptors games over the years. He's been so loyal, in fact, that the team even carved out a role for him as the Global Ambassador. But, before anyone even knew who Drake was — way back when he was just plain old Aubrey Graham — another Forest Hill local was the Raptors' resident celebrity superfan: Samuel L. Jackson.
During the Raptors' inaugural season in 1995, Jackson was living in Forest Hill while filming The Long Kiss Goodnight, and took advantage of his downtime to the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena), where the team was offering free courtside tickets to celebrities in order to drum up publicity.
In an excerpt published by GQ from Alex Wong's new book Prehistoric, the notoriously foul-mouthed Jackson revealed that he often caught the fans sitting around him off-guard with his heckling.
"The fans were so polite. They didn't understand you could yell at the players and the referees," he said, hinting at the stereotypical Canadian tendencies. "I would yell, 'He can't dribble left!' or tell one of the guys, 'He can't catch and shoot!' and the fans would look at me like I was going to get our team in trouble. I was having fun and teaching the fans how to be fans."
Fast forward almost 30 years, and Raptors fans are now known for being some of the loudest in the league — and Drake's courtside antics are loathed by opposing coaches and players. As it turns out, we might have Samuel L. Jackson to thank.
During the Raptors' inaugural season in 1995, Jackson was living in Forest Hill while filming The Long Kiss Goodnight, and took advantage of his downtime to the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena), where the team was offering free courtside tickets to celebrities in order to drum up publicity.
In an excerpt published by GQ from Alex Wong's new book Prehistoric, the notoriously foul-mouthed Jackson revealed that he often caught the fans sitting around him off-guard with his heckling.
"The fans were so polite. They didn't understand you could yell at the players and the referees," he said, hinting at the stereotypical Canadian tendencies. "I would yell, 'He can't dribble left!' or tell one of the guys, 'He can't catch and shoot!' and the fans would look at me like I was going to get our team in trouble. I was having fun and teaching the fans how to be fans."
Fast forward almost 30 years, and Raptors fans are now known for being some of the loudest in the league — and Drake's courtside antics are loathed by opposing coaches and players. As it turns out, we might have Samuel L. Jackson to thank.
