Toronto Raptors fans boo US anthem

Admin

February 3, 2025
3 min read

Fans booed the American national anthem at a Toronto Raptors game, continuing what The Guardian called “an emerging trend.” The Toronto Raptors are the sole Canadian franchise at the NBA. The team faced against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto.

NHL Hockey games in Ottawa and Calgary where the Senators and Flames competed against the Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings respectively, saw similar reactions. These games took place just hours after Trump followed through with the threat of import tariffs on Canada.

The Toronto Raptors fans initially cheered as a 15-year-old girl sang the anthems of both nations. But when she performed The Star-Spangled Banner, they booed. At the end, a mixture of boos and cheers were heard until the Canadian Anthem, O Canada begun when the crowd “erupted in applause.”

Three of the five players on the Toronto Raptors are Americans. They were seen glancing at one another as the boos came from the crowd. The game ended with a 115-108 win to the Raptors.

“Yeah, of course I noticed it,” Raptors forward Garrett Temple, one of the Americans on the team said. “The reaction [was], ‘Wow.’ And then you just think about why they’re booing. A lot of things bigger than basketball going on in the world right now. At the end of the day, we play in an arena that’s in Canada and they’re Canadian citizens, so they have a certain feeling about the trade situation going on, the tariffs. The people that booed let their thoughts be known.”

One of the squad’s Canadian players, Kelly Olynyk expressed sympathy for the singer. “Obviously [the tariffs have] an impact on a lot of people in this country and in this stadium,” he said. “I felt bad for the girl singing but they cheered her at the end, so I was happy for that.”

Donald Trump announced tariffs on goods from Canada as well as Mexico and China. He claimed that the three countries are allowing immigrants and drugs into America. Energy imported from Canada will also see a 10% tax.

The Prime Minister of Canada and President of Mexico have both announced retaliatory tariffs on goods from the US in response.

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