It was the moment the Toronto Raptors clinched the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks that Sidney Tso’s wife turned to him and said: “You gotta go.”
She meant leave their home in Hong Kong to go to Toronto to watch the Raptors’ first game against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
And even though it cost $1,200 for a last-minute flight, and probably a lot more for a seat to the game, Tso said it was worth it.
“I think everyone understands it’s more than basketball,” he said while standing with a crowd outside Scotiabank Arena just hours before Game 1 on Thursday.
“It’s about inspiration, it’s about the underdog coming out on top, and it’s about acknowledgement that this is one of the best cities in the world,” he said.
Tso is originally from Toronto, but not all fans are.
Courtney and James Auclair, passionate basketball fans who flew in from Brisbane, Australia to watch the team play, admit they have no ties to the city, although they’ve visited before and attended Raptors games.
“We just love the city, love the people and love the game — we couldn’t wait to be here,” Courtney said.
James described the chance to see the Raptors play as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Not all Raptors fans can hop on a plane at the last minute and buy tickets to this hotly anticipated playoff series, but they can still watch from afar — even if it means getting up at “dark o’clock” in Amalfi, Italy, like Torontonian Carlton Whitfield, who is travelling around Europe.
Far, far away in Amalfi, Italy. Pic is from our yesterday – your game day. (It was dark o’clock while we were watching) #wethenorth pic.twitter.com/fwvqdnb1ww
Or Dino Basso, who won’t let a plane ride from Calgary to Toronto stop him from keeping up with Pascal Siakam’s 32-point performance in Game 1.
“There was surprisingly no rush to the baggage claim on this Raptors night,” he tweeted.
From YYC to YYZ, my seat neighbour let me watch with him and there was surprisingly no rush to the baggage claim on this @Raptors night #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/q7iqBpUyXE
Tribute to the King of the North in Stockholm 
@Raptors in 6ix#StockholmDL #DiamondLeague #WeTheNorth #Klaw pic.twitter.com/04fT7TwFxk
Canadian Olympic sprinter Aaron Kingsley Brown posted a tribute to the “King of the North” — Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard — all the way from Stockholm, Sweden. In a photo, Brown is seen squatting on a track with his tongue out, mirroring the iconic image of Leonard hitting the buzzer-beating shot that won Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“Raptors in 6ix,” Brown wrote.
Some fans are even watching from a different century altogether — like the 19th in the case of Toronto’s Fort York National Historic Site, a War of 1812-era museum, .
Where will you be watching the NBA Finals? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @CBCToronto.
We held back the US once, we’ll do it again! Sunday can’t come soon enough. Go @raptors! #wethenorth pic.twitter.com/mXpa5y4ka9
from Update Trend News http://bit.ly/314Tugn
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