Drake is from Toronto, but you already knew that. Drake is his middle name — Aubrey Drake Graham is his full name — but you probably knew that, too. He has a bit of a thing with the Raptors. He recently got a jacket that could be swapped for a decent condo in the city. He has been strongly criticized for actions both on and off stage. Here are 10 things you might not know about the most famous non-player, non-coach who will be standing on the court for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Raptors and the Golden State Warriors this week:
Drake played hockey. He played in the house program at the Weston Minor Hockey League, suiting up for at least one season with the Weston Red Wings. A league official was not able to confirm how long Drake played, but believed it was for a season or two in the mid-90s, when the future actor/singer was 10 or 11 years old. In a 2010 interview with ESPN, Drake said he played right wing, and that he was a good player. “I ended up making it to Upper Canada College hockey camp, which is where good kids get sent,” he told the website. (The Athletic could not independently verify that claim.) He told ESPN his hockey career ended after “I got cross-checked in the neck and my mother wouldn’t let me play anymore.”
Advertisement
Drake was a star in pretend high school. Drake played Jimmy Brooks, a high school basketball star in Degrassi: The Next Generation. His character was involved in one of the most dramatic sequences the show ever aired, in 2004. Jimmy was alone in a school hallway when a fellow student, who had been the victim of bullying, pulled a gun. Jimmy started to run away, but was shot in the back. He was left without the use of his legs. “When I heard some of the storylines they’re doing, my head exploded,” film director Kevin Smith said the month the episode aired. “I’m known for frank subject matter and I wouldn’t touch that stuff.”
Drake modelled back-to-school clothes. In 2005, an 18-year-old Drake — then still known on screen and in print as Aubrey Graham — appeared in a Globe and Mail photo spread with three of his co-stars from Degrassi. The clothing was supplied for the actors, and Drake picked out a $240 jacket, a $100 pair of jeans and pair of $120 running shoes. “I like loose clothing,” he told the paper, “but I don’t do baggy the way I used to.” He also said he was very particular about his shoes: “They never have scuffs, man.”
Drake said he was not a star in real school. “It was very awkward,” he told the Toronto Star in 2006. “I never had a girlfriend. Not one of those girls would bring me home. It would be too risky.” Drake attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, in the upscale Toronto neighbourhood where he lived with his mother. His father was black and his mother was white, and he told the paper that made him stand out among his classmates. He dropped out before graduating. “My mom’s a teacher,” he told the Star. “So I definitely have a high school education, if not more. I just don’t know about Darwin and all that.” (Drake announced he earned his high school diploma six years later.)
Drake (left) and Shane Kippel (right) as Degrassi: The Next Generation marked its 100th episode on set in Toronto. (Photo: George Pimentel/WireImage)
Drake was held up at gunpoint in real life. In 2009, Drake and a companion were leaving a restaurant in Little Italy when two men allegedly approached and drew guns. According to the Globe, Drake was forced to hand over $2,000 in U.S. cash, along with an expensive watch and a necklace of gold and diamonds. Two men were eventually convicted of lesser charges and were out of jail within seven months. “I feel unsafe in Toronto at all times,” Drake told The New York Times a year after the incident. “I’m a one of one. There’s no one else you can hate as much as me if you hate money, or you hate success.”
Advertisement
Drake designed a nicer house than yours. In 2015, Drake bought into an enclave reserved for some of the wealthiest residents of Toronto. He reportedly spent $6.7 million for a home that was subsequently torn down. In its place? A mansion with 35,000-square feet of space. Among the attractions said to be included in that space: An elevator, a museum for sports memorabilia, a pool, a hot tub, two saunas and a basketball court approaching NBA specifications.
Drake has not charmed Leafs fans. There is a school of thought that Drake might actually be a curse to some teams. In April, Italian soccer team AS Roma posted a (tongue-in-cheek) message on its Twitter feed: “All Roma players banned from taking photos with Drake until the end of the season.” Two days later, Drake was at Scotiabank Arena for Game 4 of Toronto’s first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins. He was wearing a Leafs jersey with the No. 6 on the back. Toronto went on to lose 6-4. Talk of the Drake curse picked up steam. “That’s probably about the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock told reporters. “I’ve heard lot of things since I’ve come here, but that’s one of the craziest things.” (Toronto went on to lose the series in seven games.)
All Roma players banned from taking photos with Drake until the end of the season
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) April 15, 2019
Drake has other Canadian detractors. In 2012, Rich Kidd, a Toronto-based producer, told National Public Radio that Canadian labels did not immediately embrace Drake as a musician. “They thought that, just like any other Toronto rapper, he wasn’t going nowhere,” Kidd told NPR. Even now, as a global star and official team ambassador, his work with the Raptors is not universally beloved. Jack Todd, a columnist with the Montreal Gazette, suggested, “Drake has succeeded in making the NBA playoffs all about Drake, even if he couldn’t dunk with flubber on his sneakers.” Todd wrote, “Drake, with his antics, disrespects the city of Toronto, the Raptors, the game of basketball itself.” (The column ignited a strong reaction on social media, largely in support of Drake.)
Drake has made the Raptors his business, too. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment bestowed a new title on Drake in September 2013, calling him “global ambassador” for a struggling team. The Raptors were a mess, having missed the playoffs for five straight seasons. “I want to bring the excitement into this building, I want a team that people are dying to come see,” he told reporters. “I want it to be a top team in the NBA, if not the top team.” In March, the Raptors renamed their practice facility OVO Athletic Centre as part of a naming rights deal with Drake’s record and clothing label. (The Raptors have not missed the playoffs since he was named global ambassador.)
Drake might appear in your social media feeds again this week. Smash Mouth, a California rock band popular at the turn of the century, tweeted a message to Drake on Twitter on Sunday: “When the ball is in-play sit the FCK down! That aint gonna fly in Oakland!” Drake even factored into a question asked of Warriors coach Steve Kerr on Monday. “I’m not worried about Drake — I called him on his cell phone earlier,” he told reporters with a smirk. “My daughter’s rolling her eyes right now. She’s like, ‘Dad, no more dad jokes please.’ So, sorry.”
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57mHJub2xnZH9xfZhoZ25nYm18cnyMrZ%2Bippeoerq71Gakop%2BYqXqvu9Nmoqenp2Kuo7vUrWSdqpGgsm7Ax55kq5mgqbyzv4yfmKdlkaOxbrrBmmSfoZ6WubR5wqhkrKyRp3w%3D