Here at Live the North, we love our Raptors—but let’s be real, not every former player looks back on their time in Toronto fondly. Case in point: Rudy Gay and Thaddeus Young, who’ve both recently aired out their grievances about living (and hooping) in the 6ix.
Let’s start with Rudy Gay.
On a recent episode of the Knuckleheads Podcast, Gay didn’t hold back when asked about his time in Toronto. “Toronto, it’s tough, man,” he said—before going off about, of all things, the city’s accent. “That weak-ass accent they got,” he laughed, when asked about his issue with Raptors fans. “They hate me, I don’t know why they hate me. You ever got traded from somewhere and the fans boo you? They traded me, I ain’t ask for no trade.”
Not exactly a love letter.
Gay’s short Raptors run back in 2013 was, let’s say, complicated. He came over from Memphis, put up solid scoring numbers (about 19.5 points a game), but struggled with efficiency. Less than a year later, he was off to Sacramento. And this isn’t the first time he’s thrown shade—just last year, on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, he said: “You think I wanted to go to Toronto? … If I wanted to get traded, why the f*** would I go to Toronto?”
Yikes.
Then there’s Thaddeus Young, who recently shared his own experience on the Out the Mud Podcast. His take? Toronto’s great to visit—but living there full-time? Not so much.
“I ain’t gonna lie, being in Toronto was kinda tough,” Young said. “It’s cool to visit, be there for like four or five days, but to live there, it was tough. It was tough on my family.”
He pointed to the constant border crossings, customs hassles, and even getting stuck at the border for hours. “It’s almost like you’re at a disadvantage,” he added. “I just paid for the package and now I’ve got to pay more money to get my package from you? Like, c’mon, man.”
It all brings to mind those classic gripes from ex-Raptors like Antonio Davis (who wasn’t thrilled his kids had to learn the metric system) and Chris Bosh (who once joked about not getting good cable in Canada).
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Lou Williams, another former Raptor and NBA Sixth Man of the Year, had a much more positive spin when he spoke on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back.
“Canada has its own culture,” Lou said. “There are some adjustments when you’re an American, sure, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Toronto.”
So yeah—life in the North isn’t for everyone. But for those who embrace it, there’s nothing quite like it.
Why would anyone want to live in Toronto?