The Toronto Raptors are the lone NBA franchise that is outside the United States.
With that, other NBA teams have to bring their passports and clear customs, which could create some frustrations. Luckily for Western Conference teams, they only need to make a trip to Toronto once a year.
However, for Eastern Conference teams, they need to make that trip twice a season and perhaps more should the Raptors make it to the postseason.
Two former NBA players expressed their frustrations with flying to Toronto due to the process of going through border customs.
Gilbert Arenas shared that he did not want to have to deal with the logistics of a flight to Canada, via No Chill with Gilbert Arenas:
“We was sitting there like, man, we’re going to Toronto. C’mon man. My ankle hurts coach. “I ain’t trying to go through that bullsh*t.”
Then Kenyon Martin chimed in with his gripe that he could not bring in a toiletry bag through security, which greatly frustrated him:
“You can’t even bring your toiletry bag back through the airport after the game because we’ve got to through the airport after the game and through security. You can’t even f***ing bring your toiletry bag like you’re a f***ing civilian.”
Sure, going through customs and security can be annoying, but it is unavoidable in the NBA.
Outside of Martin and Arenas’ criticisms, current NBA players have not spoken out about any negative experiences when it comes to flying to Toronto.
DeMar DeRozan opens up about Raptors 2019 championship
An iconic Raptors player was DeMar DeRozan, who was unfortunately traded in 2018 to bring in Kawhi Leonard.
However, it would ultimately result in a championship for Toronto and DeRozan weighed in on watching that play out.
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