He wasn鈥檛 in seat A12 at Scotiabank Arena, but Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia was still close to courtside for the historic NBA Championship on Thursday.
Bhatia, who hasn鈥檛 missed a Raptors home game since 1995, was a few rows from the floor at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Even though the victory wasn鈥檛 at home, he was among a large group of devoted Canadians watching the game in person. Bhatia has become a bona fide sports star in recent years, garnering a and a . He was even spotted joking around with Golden State Warriors captain after the game.
Cheering on the Raptors is still front and centre for the man, who recalled the moment in the same Oakland arena when Vince Carter wowed with a at the 2000 NBA All-Star Game. Thursday鈥檚 game was another historic moment for the Raptors -- and Canada.
鈥淚t was so beautiful to see over 2,000 Canadian fans who flew in here for the special game from coast to coast showing how much Canada loves basketball,鈥� he told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Friday, declaring 鈥淲e the champs.鈥�
鈥淲e were on the top of the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t still feels like a dream.鈥�
The dream will continue into next week when the team holds a victory parade in Toronto on Monday. Bhatia hopes to be a part of it with thousands of fans.
鈥淲e all acted as the sixth man in this game -- and every arena we went in the playoff run,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 just win the NBA championships. We also now, I believe, from coast to coast, we are loving each other more because this has brought Canada together in a different and a better way.鈥�
