'It's not America': Fox Sports host roasted for comments about Toronto
A U.S. basketball commentator has found himself in the hot seat over comments he made about Toronto and its relationship with Black athletes amid rumours one of the best in the game could be headed north of the border.
“I don’t think KD [Kevin Durant] would want to go to Toronto. Great city. It’s not America,” Chris Broussard said on Fox Sports’ First Things First panel interview on Monday.
READ MORE: Kevin Durant asks for trade from Brooklyn Nets
“You feel it when you’re there, I’m telling you, especially as an African American. It’s a different situation than African Americans are used to being in.”
“Tracy McGrady left, Vince Carter left, Chris Bosh left, you mentioned Kahwi [Leonard],” Broussard added.
More than a few people on Twitter took issue with the comments and Broussard’s name was -- and still is -- trending on the platform in the hours that followed the segment.
Most notably among them is Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who played for the Raptors the year after they won their first championship.
“This a stretch… Canadians love you like you grew up there… he’s tripping,” Hollis-Jefferson wrote in a tweet.
And former Raptors, including Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, have been known to talk up their experience in the city and more often than not receive a hero’s welcome when they’re back in town.
In spite of the backlash, Broussard took to Twitter Monday night in an attempt to clear the air, saying he “never said Blacks are ‘treated worse in Toronto’ than in America.”
“That’s ridiculous. I said living there is different and “not the same as living in America for Blacks.” Very diverse city. But just 8% Black. I love visiting Toronto. Visiting,” Broussard added.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Broussard’s hot take on the city, which has long been considered one of the most multicultural in the world, comes days after news broke that 12-time NBA All Star Kevin Durant was seeking a trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
While it’s still unclear where Durant will land after contracts are firmed up, there is speculation that he could end up in Toronto.
And that’s not totally out of the realm of possibility.
Durant has even gone on record to say that the Toronto was his favourite basketball team growing up and that he was a fan of one of the greatest raptors of all time: Vince Carter.
“I was a big Vince Carter fan and I just liked their jerseys to be honest. They were a new team when I was growing up so I wanted to be a part of that,” Durant said during the Dan Patrick Show in 2013.
Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant is shown during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center, Sunday, Apr. 10, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“He [Carter] brought Toronto from being one of the newer teams in the league to almost going to the finals. He changed the culture there in Toronto.”
Like many other former Raptors greats, Carter has gone on to praise the city he once called home -- despite a once frosty relationship with the fans following a trade in 2004.
And although Durant himself has not all hinted at which jersey he'll wear in October, that’s not stopping Toronto fans from dreaming about the possibility he may land here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.