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Is Colangelo becoming a Toronto promoter like a Glen Grumwald? Anyway, he lays on the usual boosterism to make the fans like him. But it sounds more genuine than from someone like Vince Carter
Guess what, we had him at hello
The Raps' new GM already loves Sotto Sotto and Yorkville
MICHAEL GRANGE
The Toronto Raptors courted Bryan Colangelo, the team's new president and general manager, with a month of secret dinners and meetings aboard private jets -- a cloak-and-dagger approach that may have been necessary, given that Mr. Colangelo was still working for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. But although selling him on Toronto's basketball franchise might have taken some time, the city itself had him at the first "hello."
"This is an interesting situation," he said at the Tuesday press conference where his new job was announced. "Toronto is a world-class city, cosmopolitan. It has a lot of attributes, certainly, that Phoenix doesn't have."
The 40-year-old's first exposure to Toronto came in the summer of 1994, when the city hosted the World Basketball Championships at what was then the SkyDome. "I was here for a while and took some time to get out and see the city," he said.
When the Raptors joined the NBA for the 1995-96 season, Toronto became a favourite road haunt for the Phoenix-raised, Cornell-educated Mr. Colangelo, who by then was the Suns' general manager. The visiting Suns would stay at the Four Seasons or, more recently, the Park-Hyatt, giving Mr. Colangelo the opportunity to stroll Yorkville in his precious hours of downtime.
He's a bit of a clothes horse, to judge by the form-fitting suits, high collars and generously knotted ties he has favoured on his two working days in the city this week -- at his introductory press conference and at the Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
According to friends and colleagues, he's also a bit of a foodie, the guy you want ordering the wine if you happen to be out with him for dinner, and he has already honed in on Trattoria Sotto Sotto as his favourite spot for Italian.
While no one would argue that Toronto, in the chilly, slushy, days of early March, has the charms of, say, sunny Phoenix, Mr. Colangelo sees the bigger picture: a diverse city with a walkable urban centre and family-friendly neighbourhood enclaves. For all that, he won't say where he and his wife, Barbara, and their two young children hope to live.
Given the increasingly international nature of the NBA, with players arriving from Spain, Italy, France and elsewhere, Mr. Colangelo thinks Toronto's makeup might even provide the Raptors with a competitive advantage.
This is the sort of place, Mr. Colangelo believes, where an international player can "feel a lot more comfortable than other places.
"I think that's a huge advantage for Toronto and it should be taken advantage of. It's a great attribute that this franchise has to offer to better players."
And Mr. Colangelo will be the first to tell them so
Guess what, we had him at hello
The Raps' new GM already loves Sotto Sotto and Yorkville
MICHAEL GRANGE
The Toronto Raptors courted Bryan Colangelo, the team's new president and general manager, with a month of secret dinners and meetings aboard private jets -- a cloak-and-dagger approach that may have been necessary, given that Mr. Colangelo was still working for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. But although selling him on Toronto's basketball franchise might have taken some time, the city itself had him at the first "hello."
"This is an interesting situation," he said at the Tuesday press conference where his new job was announced. "Toronto is a world-class city, cosmopolitan. It has a lot of attributes, certainly, that Phoenix doesn't have."
The 40-year-old's first exposure to Toronto came in the summer of 1994, when the city hosted the World Basketball Championships at what was then the SkyDome. "I was here for a while and took some time to get out and see the city," he said.
When the Raptors joined the NBA for the 1995-96 season, Toronto became a favourite road haunt for the Phoenix-raised, Cornell-educated Mr. Colangelo, who by then was the Suns' general manager. The visiting Suns would stay at the Four Seasons or, more recently, the Park-Hyatt, giving Mr. Colangelo the opportunity to stroll Yorkville in his precious hours of downtime.
He's a bit of a clothes horse, to judge by the form-fitting suits, high collars and generously knotted ties he has favoured on his two working days in the city this week -- at his introductory press conference and at the Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
According to friends and colleagues, he's also a bit of a foodie, the guy you want ordering the wine if you happen to be out with him for dinner, and he has already honed in on Trattoria Sotto Sotto as his favourite spot for Italian.
While no one would argue that Toronto, in the chilly, slushy, days of early March, has the charms of, say, sunny Phoenix, Mr. Colangelo sees the bigger picture: a diverse city with a walkable urban centre and family-friendly neighbourhood enclaves. For all that, he won't say where he and his wife, Barbara, and their two young children hope to live.
Given the increasingly international nature of the NBA, with players arriving from Spain, Italy, France and elsewhere, Mr. Colangelo thinks Toronto's makeup might even provide the Raptors with a competitive advantage.
This is the sort of place, Mr. Colangelo believes, where an international player can "feel a lot more comfortable than other places.
"I think that's a huge advantage for Toronto and it should be taken advantage of. It's a great attribute that this franchise has to offer to better players."
And Mr. Colangelo will be the first to tell them so