Students at Oak Bay High School on Thursday mobbed Nav Bhatia, the man dubbed the Toronto Raptors Super Fan, and who is perhaps the very definition of the term folkhero. He has never missed a minute of a Raptors home game and is the only fan ever to receive a championship ring from a team in the NBA, NHL, NFL or MLB.
“I have never come late and I have never left a game early,” he said.
Bhatia passed his Raptors 2019 NBA championship ring around freely as the Oak Bay students gleefully took turns wearing and holding it up. And why not? Bhatia says it’s Canada’s ring for all the fans: “Everybody in Canada is a champion because of the Raptors.”
Bhatia was on the Island to inform all that the Raptors Super Fan will also be the Team Canada Super Fan at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre from June 23 to 28 for the Olympic qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020.
And he has a message for the Greek Freak, defending NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Super Fan will be in his familiar baseline courtside seat to cheer on Canada on Blanshard Street.
“I made the Greek Freak miss six free throws in the playoffs against the Raptors,” said Bhatia, rather proudly.
The Olympic qualifier opens with Canada — which has commitments from almost all its NBA players — meeting Greece.
“There are 15 Canadians in the NBA right now. We are going to have one hell of a team,” said Bhatia.
“And [Raptors and Team Canada coach] Nick Nurse is a champion and he is committed. The Raptors brought Canada together. I am sure in my heart it will be the same feeling for Team Canada. The qualifying tournament is the speed bump. If we get over that, we can win an Olympic medal in Japan. That is my great wish — a basketball medal for my country. I came to this country with nothing 30 years ago. Everything I have is because of Canada.”
In addition to the championship ring, Bhatia also became the first grand marshal of an NBA, NHL, NFL or MLB championship parade through a city.
“This is super cool to see the Super Fan,” said Oak Bay Bays player Chris Horwood, of the ceremony, which took place in the school’s gym before an exhibition game against the Semiahmoo Totems of South Surrey.
“The sport is growing in Canada, for sure.”
This, however, was a bittersweet week for all in basketball. After Kobe Bryant’s final game in Toronto in 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar made a point of coming up to Bhatia’s seat and gave him a big bear hug and said: “Thank-you Super Fan for all you have done for basketball in Canada.”
Bhatia never forgot the moment.
“My heart is broken . . . it is in pieces,” he said, of Bryant’s death this week, with daughter Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash.
THREE-POINTERS: Nine-game ticket packages for the Olympic qualifying tournament go on sale today at 10 a.m. at selectyourtickets.com or at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office. . . . B.C. announced Thursday it is providing $350,000 for the tournament through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. “We’re proud to showcase B.C. to the world in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said Premier John Horgan . . . Canada, Greece, China, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey will play at the Memorial Centre with the winner advancing to Tokyo 2020.
