Where were you on June 17 of just last year?
Were you camped out at the exhibition grounds? Packed in like sardines in a can at Nathan Phillips Square? Driving up along the Gardiner Expressway and stopping in the middle of that highway just to get a glimpse? Or maybe just chilling at home taking in the festivities from the comfort of your couch?
Regardless of where you were, you likely remember the day like it was yesterday.
Championship parades for a professional team that the entire country rallies around don’t come around too often, after all.
Yes, on this day one year ago, the Toronto Raptors held a memorable championship parade that officially started 10:00 a.m. ET and only should’ve last about three hours, but ended up going in excess of six because of the raucous joy of about 3 million people who took to the streets of Toronto to join in the celebration — and also because of a scary tragedy involving an unfortunate shooting incident near Nathan Phillips Square, where the team eventually ended up for the championship rally.
Talk to anyone about it and you’ll likely get a unique and interesting story about where they were. But among those with the most unique perspectives on the day is Raptors play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin, who was asked to host the rally on stage and not only helped with the celebration but also – and more importantly – helped calm down a situation that could’ve turned what was a wonderful day into an outright horrible one.
Sportsnet recently caught up with Devlin to ask him about his thoughts on all that transpired that day one year ago.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity.
SN: What do you remember about the parade and the championship celebration on stage?
Matt Devlin: Well, I was there on stage at Nathan Phillips Square waiting with the fans that had gathered there. And, as everything transpired and unfolded that day when you specifically get to when the team arrived, it’s interesting.
I think back on it and it felt like they were there and we were there on stage for a long while, but somebody had mentioned it end up being like 38-40 minutes, I think, in total. However, while I was there it felt to me like it was longer.
SN: The parade started at 10:00 a.m. with the expectation that the team would arrive on the stage at Nathan Phillips Square at about 12:30 p.m. They didn’t arrive until a little after 3:00 p.m. however, because of how crazy everything was on the streets. What did you do in that downtime?
Devlin: I didn’t have to arrive ’til, I would say, around 10ish, 10:30, 11. And then it was just getting to my location and waiting for their arrival then taking everything in and going over what we were going to do on stage and just planning for when they arrive.
So that was really it. It was just kind of coordinating everything that was going on and everything that was expected to happen once they arrive in order to put on the celebration on the stage.
There were times where I interacted with the fans and handed out some waters and talked to people that had gathered there.
SN: When the team did finally arrive and you formally took the stage, what do you remember from that moment?
Devlin: When you’re standing up on stage and you look out and you just see all these people, it was just amazing. It was truly overwhelming.
And when we were able to have the signal and the feed [at Nathan Phillips Square]to watch the parade route and see the fans and see everything that was unfolding it was truly just an amazing day when you think about the 3 million-plus people that are there and just the fact there’s not one player along that route or a staff member that I’ve talked to that didn’t soak all that up and soak it all in and talked about those five hours that they were out there glowingly.
They had never seen anything like that before. Even for players that had won a title before. They had never seen anything like it.
SN: When the team did finally arrive, how joyous did everyone seem?
Devlin: It was great. When they arrived there was a set script where I was to interview the players along the way of the event on stage and call each of them up there. But I really got the sense when they arrived and that it was really a moment where I knew the fans didn’t want to hear from me. They really wanted to hear the players and they wanted to hear them speak in their own words without me really directing it in any way.
So I went to each of the players that had been asked to speak and I said, “Would you prefer me to interview you or would you rather me just hand the microphone to you?” And each one of them said, “You know what? Just hand the mic, I want to talk.”
So that really started it. It started with Nick Nurse and really carried through that. And then, of course, Kyle [Lowry] and every one of the players that spoke inclusive of Kawhi [Leonard] at the end and the way he capped it off with the laugh.
I mean, there’s just so many brilliant moments that I think that the fans just really enjoyed. To me those are the moments that really made it special.
SN: You mention the iconic Leonard laugh at the end of the rally — in your interactions with him did you know he had that kind of lighthearted personality and humour in him before?
Devlin: I think we learned that early on from Day 1, right when he was at the podium and his initial press conference with the Toronto Raptors. But there were certainly moments along the way where you just knew that there was a great deal of depth there to him.
I think back to when he made the Game 7 game-winner [versus the Philadelphia 76ers]when he said in the post-game press conference, “I typically like to act like I’ve done it before, but that was the first time that I had ever made that shot. So I allowed myself to show emotion.”
Mind you, that was the first time that that shot had ever been made in NBA history, right? So his timing was sensational and I think they’re great lead-ups to that when we saw on social media with Kawhi and Serge [Ibaka] in the back seat of a car and Kawhi saying, “What it do, baby,” and just all those things.
And I remember speaking to Kawhi as the players were all gathering to go in and speak and be introduced and I ask him, “OK, have you heard about the ‘Kawhactus?’” And he goes, “Yeah, you know I’ve heard about it.”
He was on top of all that stuff. And I just thought the way he punctuated that day was brilliant.
SN: Another star of the parade was Marc Gasol. What did you think of his antics on the day?
Devlin: I had seen some of the pictures of what was transpiring out there, but certainly after the fact you see more of the iconic photos and he obviously had a great day.
SN: Gasol seemed a little inebriated during the celebrations. Can you comment on that at all?
Devlin: You know what? He had a great, great day. Well-deserved.
SN: Among the many highlights in that entire celebration there was a scary incident that threatened to put an ugly mark on the day. You played a significant role in helping diffuse a potentially disastrous situation. How did you do it?
Devlin: There’s mixed emotions about the day. It was a tremendous celebration. That to me – when you think back on it and you think about the parade, the amount of people, just the joy – it was absolutely spectacular. But there’s mixed emotions for me because of what transpired and knowing that for some they were in a difficult situation.
I was standing off on the side of the stage and in my earpiece I was asked to stop [MLSE chairman Larry] Tannenbaum from speaking and that there was an emergency in the area. Now, because I had been there all day, I really felt that the first thing I thought of was, “Okay, what was the emergency?” Because obviously you’re going to respond differently depending upon what the emergency is, right? Is it something happening in the crowd with respect of if we need to move people one way or the other? Make room for medics? So I needed to know what the emergency was.
So I was on the opposite side of the stage from the control room and I worked my way back behind the stage to the other side where the control room was and then also where our staff was and I asked what the emergency was. There was a gentleman there that gave me a walkie talkie. He had direct line to the authorities and he said, “Matt Devlin’s here and he has a question for you.” So I said, “What’s the emergency?” And they told me that there was a gunman at Queen and Bay. And so at that time, as I’m making my way toward Mr. Tanenbaum, I knew how serious the moment was and how calm you need to be in those situations and also, ‘words matter’ was what comes to my mind. My mother always said, “Your words matter.” So I knew that I really needed to make sure that I kept calm and also shared that with the people there at Nathan Phillips Square – the fans that were there.
So I made my way toward Mr. Tannenbaum and said to him, “Excuse me, we have an emergency. I have to make an announcement.” And Anton Wright, who handles all of the in-arena production, was just amazing because he was right behind me as I was walking out on stage and he was able to carry on that conversation with Mr. Tanenbaum as I went to the stage.
There are things that happened that, to me, are really important. Number one, the Toronto police acted swiftly and they deserve an immense amount of credit. While I was up on stage I could see in the southwest corner behind the Toronto sign movement of people but I didn’t know, as I was talking to the fans there, everything that was happening out beyond that Toronto sign of the square. And so the fact that the Toronto police acted as swiftly as they did was certainly impactful because it didn’t escalate, right? That was certainly everybody’s fear, that it would escalate.
The other thing that you learn after the fact when I went back to watch the video, there’s a point while I’m talking and now I know that RCMP are lined around the stage, and there’s a point where the camera zooms in on the prime minister and the prime minister looks to his right and he just nods his head. And you can see him kind of acknowledge with an “OK.” So they did a tremendous job because if the prime minister had left the stage I think that that would’ve signalled something extremely different to the crowd and the fans that were there.
So all these things have to happen in order for that situation not to escalate and I am just so thankful that it didn’t. And in those moments you speak from the heart and that’s what I tried to do and I waited until I heard something from the control room there on stage in my earpiece before we then brought everyone back together to celebrate the moment, which is why everybody was there in the first place.
I’m so thankful that it didn’t escalate. So thankful that the fans that were there were listening. And I heard so many stories after the fact from people that certainly meant a great deal to me, that experienced that day a little bit differently than most. I have a great deal of respect for that. And that’s why I’m just very thankful that it didn’t escalate at the end of the day.
