Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes has an affection for the Canadian Football League.
After he led the Raps to their first win of the 2021-2022 NBA season, scoring a game-high 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 115-83 win over the Boston Celtics, Barnes said post-game: “Shoutout to the CFL, man.”
The only piece of proof for his CFL love available on the interwebs comes from the 20-year-old’s Instagram account. Barnes recently posted a picture on his feed wearing a throwback CFL t-shirt.
It had 1999 Grey Cup written on it with the logo on a Canadian football and Vancouver, British Columbia written at the bottom. That was the last year Hamilton won the CFL championship as the Tiger-Cats defeated Calgary 32-21 at BC Place — Barnes was born two years later in 2001.
The six-foot-seven, 225-pound forward grew up in West Palm Beach Florida and played his NCAA basketball at Florida State University after becoming a five-star recruit. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.1 assists and 4 rebounds during 24 games with the Seminoles in his one collegiate season.
The Raptors saw potential and president Masai Ujiri, general manager Bobby Webster and head coach Nick Nurse decided to select him fourth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Barnes has quickly become a Dinos fan favourite and apparently he’s a CFL supporter.
Perhaps the three-down league has been attracting the younger generation all along.
