By: Kamal Hylton (@KamalHylton)
Recently, through they guys at NBA Nation Australia, I was given the opportunity to cover 2014-15 Toronto Raptors Media Day.
For those unfamiliar with what media day is about, it gives media outlets a chance to interview the GM, coach and players about how they spent their off-season, about any improvements that have been made and what to expect from the upcoming campaign.
In the case of the Raptors, the main topics were DeMar DeRozan’s and Jonas Valanciunas’ experience representing Team USA and Lithuania at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Kyle Lowry’s decision to re-sign with the Raptors on a four year, $48 million dollar deal and what to expect out of 20th overall draft pick in 19-year-old Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo.
For NBA Nation Australia I managed to get quite a few interviews. When it comes to Caboclo, I was surprised by a few things:
1. His English is much further advanced than I thought it would be, electing not to use a translator.
2. He has the wingspan of Stretch Armstrong! I’m not sure if it’s legitimately 7-foot-7… but it’s not far off.
3. Although he’s quiet and soft spoken, he does have a high level of confidence saying at one point “Kevin Durant is my idol, but I want to be better than him.”
One of my favourites to chat with during the day was point guard Will Cherry, mostly there for DeRozan and Lowry, none of the major media outlets were all that interested speaking with him. He was standing alone when I went up and asked for the interview and that was a great decision on my part, as he brought personality and I actually learned that him and Damian Lillard are good friends. Both are from Oakland, California took similar paths to get to the NBA coming out of small NCAA Division 1 schools.
As you may know by now, Lillard came out of Weber State and burst onto the scene in his rookie year.
Cherry is a rookie from a similarly small school in University of Montana, he signed with the Raptors out of summer league and you can tell instantly that much like Lillard he has the right mentality and plays with a chip on his shoulder.
If he manages to stick around longterm, he’s the type of player that Raptors fans gravitate towards and can identify with in the same vein as your Charles Oakley’s, Jerome ‘Junk Yard Dog’ Williams’ or of more recent vintage your Amir Johnson’s of the world.
Toronto is not really a ‘blue collar’ city like a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or Youngstown, Ohio but has always given its love and appreciation towards the hard workers that earn their minutes on the court, bring energy, toughness and attitude.
Describing his playing style as a “Bulldog”, Winner” and “Willing to do the dirty work and little things to help the team win”, these are traits that fit this team and city perfectly, good reasons why coach Dwane Casey signed him probably signed him as depth at the guard position.
Unfortunately, the view of some fans and media is they’re expecting him to get cut due to roster restrictions and the Raptors more pressing need being depth on the front line. However, personally I hope he does find a way to stick with the Raptors or at the very least get picked up by another NBA team during the season.
I also grabbed a few photos.
Most of them were just of the players in scrums, but a few favourites of mine include:
Jonas Valanciunas’ beard game… it certainly makes him look more menacing and intense. Also, I might be a ‘homer’, but it looks much better than that crows nest James Harden has going on.
For selfish reasons, as a member of my NBA Nation Australia fantasy team (named “Bruno Caboclo on Rye”), I’m personally expecting the big fella to get touches early and often this season.
Lucas ‘Bebe’ Nogueira’s Afro… It may not be as famous as his fellow Brazilian Anderson Varejao’s yet, but I bet you the Raptors will have a ‘Bebe Wig Night’ at some point this season.
Landry Fields being caught by surprise. I don’t remember what had him so shocked, but this has ‘Insert Meme Here’ written all over it.
And finally… Greivis Vásquez playing the role of ‘reporter’. I’m impressed with how active he is from a social media perspective, most players are now being taught to shy away from it but he’s fully embraced it.
Overall, this was a great experience for me covering an NBA Media Day for the first time, it was quite a busy day and there are a few things I’ll need to remember for next time:
1. Practice my ‘box out’ skills when taking part in the scrums.
2. Bring a bigger camera… I get the impression when it comes to the scrum environment ‘size does matter’.
3. Sometimes the best interviews are the lesser known players… Will Cherry was great and so was Greg Stiemsma, like in this clip with a fellow reporter asking him about Canada.
I hope you guys enjoyed all the content and I once again want to extend a BIG thanks to everyone over at NBA Nation Australia for giving me this opportunity. Hopefully I’ll be able to cover a some games thought out the season and bring you even more Toronto Raptors and NBA content.
Here’s a full list of all the videos from 2014-15 Raptors Media Day:
Masai Ujiri: http://youtu.be/3NngWqTdJsw
Dwane Casey: http://youtu.be/pmzFbElz_nM
Jonas Valanciunas: http://youtu.be/me2XvlJWMAU
Patrick Patterson: http://youtu.be/TO9pIz4Zdn8
Tyler Hansborough: http://youtu.be/Q1rRl44QJd0
Landry Fields: http://youtu.be/H20pe2-Tyzg
Will Cherry: http://youtu.be/flCv2C1ko78
Greg Stiemsma: http://youtu.be/KXqKX51wzqI
Lou Williams: http://youtu.be/4yX37CN9h1A
Bruno Caboclo: http://youtu.be/orNLwNtcTzQ
NBA Nation Australia 
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