A seemingly evergreen conversation around the Toronto Raptors opened up again this week.
Former Raptors forward Thad Young spoke up on the Out The Mud podcast about how he found it “tough” to live in Toronto, citing reasons such as having to frequently go through airport customs as one of the challenges of playing for the Raptors.
And then speaking today on FanDuelTV’s Run It Back show, former Raptors player Lou Williams shared his own experiences of travelling with the team, including a story about the late Kobe Bryant having an issue with one of the security rules at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
“Kobe did have a moment. He did not want to take his shoes off at customs, that is true,” Williams said.
Williams’ co-host Chandler Parsons also shared that a teammate of his once was unable to travel into Canada due to his legal troubles, though he didn’t expand further on specifics.
Kobe Bryant didn’t want to take off his shoes going through customs to play the Raptors 🤣❌👟
You can’t tame the Mamba! 🐍@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/Fj9db6ue5G
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 21, 2025
Williams and Bryant played together on the Lakers from 2015-2017 after his lone season in Toronto from 2014-15. Though he won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award while with the Raptors, Williams believed Toronto picked off-court reasons to not bring him into the fold again.
“They didn’t re-sign me back to Toronto because of my lifestyle,” Williams explained on an episode published last year on his Underground Lounge podcast. “They said I was a bad influence and they just said my vibe wasn’t right for what they was building out here.”
Williams, who once shared his own criticism of living in Canada that included different TV channels as well as added airport times, also doubled down on the segment about his own perceived disadvantages of playing in Toronto.
“I wouldn’t trade my experience with the Raptors for the world. I won my first 6MOTY there. But it has its disadvantages. You go through customs once if you’re in the West, twice if you’re in the East. When you play for the Toronto Raptors, you do it 41 times.”
🗣️ @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/TcdJ8fAdLn
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 21, 2025
“I remember the Raptors fan base got upset with me, I enjoyed my time in Toronto, I loved it. I wouldn’t trade my experience with the Raptors for the world,” Williams said.
“But it has its disadvantages. You go through customs once if you’re in the West, twice if you’re in the East. When you play for the Toronto Raptors, you do it 41 times… It’s a completely different experience. I wouldn’t say that it sucked, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Toronto. But it definitely has its disadvantages.”
Williams also shared his own stories of travel woes with his loved ones during his lone year in Toronto.
“Trying to ship your cars over, family and friends, it can be difficult for them to travel,” Williams said. “Speeding tickets and those things, you probably can’t get some of your friends through to come visit.”
Though the complaints might seem spoiled to the average person, it is no secret that Toronto has had a tough history of attracting American free agents to play for the team.
And while the stigma of playing for Canada’s lone NBA team might be much better than it was in the 1990s, it’s clear that it’s always going to be just a little different up north.
Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images
