While tens of thousands of fans across the Maritimes were cheering on the Toronto Raptors during their NBA Championship run, many may not know that at least one Maritimer was a key part of the team's success.
Halifax native Shelby Weaver works as the Raptors manager of player development, and was in Oakland’s Oracle Arena on Thursday night, as the final buzzer sounded on the Raptors historic championship win.
“The buzzer went and everybody ran out to the court and started celebrating, confetti and the whole nine. It’s still pretty surreal, I don’t think it’s truly hit me yet and I don’t think it really will until we have the parade,” said Weaver, speaking from a California hotel less than 15 hours after the Raptors clinched the first title in franchise history.
Her hair still coated from the champagne showers and voice hoarse from cheering, Weaver says that despite the ups and downs of the playoff run, the Raptors never lost belief that they could win it all.
“These guys are a special, special group, so as much as the outside world may have thought we were underdogs, I don’t think we ever felt that way.”
Weaver, a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University and the Halifax Grammar School, says she was inspired by seeing videos of Halifax’s own ‘Jurassic Park’.
“Anybody that knows anything about Halifax knows that it’s a basketball city, it’s been a basketball city for a long time, so just to see everyone rallying together is so cool.”
Weaver’s responsibilities as manager of player development include working directly with the Raptors players to make sure that they have everything they need off the court, so they can focus on succeeding on the court.
She says the Raptors mania that captured the country from coast-to-coast was felt by all the Raptors players and staff members, and helped give the team added motivation to win for Canada.
“We have a lot of Canadians on our staff, we have one Canadian player and a lot of Canadians in our G-League system, and so to understand that we’re representing a country and not just a city, that makes it really unique and gives us an extra push. This season is long and it’s especially long when you go to the finals as I’m experiencing now, and so you always need those extra pieces of motivation along the way and I think having our whole country behind us was huge,” explains Weaver.
And while it may have been the first NBA title for the Raptors, Weaver has been part of a championship organization before. She previously worked with the Raptors 905, the franchise’s developmental team which won the NBA G-League Championship in 2017. That team was led by Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, who much like Weaver, were quickly promoted to the big leagues, and played key roles in the Raptors win.
“The guys are just so happy, they worked so hard and all of our staff worked so hard. You could go your entire career without winning an championship so to get that monkey off your back and be able to do it is just a really freeing feeling.”
And while she isn’t sure of her plans yet, she hopes that she can bring the trophy home to the East Coast later this summer.
“There’s a lot of logistics to work out, you realize your done and you celebrate and then today I’m kind of like, ‘oh gosh’ there’s a lot to do," Weaver says on her post-celebration plans. "Whether I make it home to Halifax, that would be something I would love to do, but I know for sure, you’ll see that Larry O’Brien trophy making it the whole way across the country.”
A Maritime connection to the team that captured the heart of a nation.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Allan April.
