Several former Toronto Raptors have come out of the woodwork in recent days to give their thoughts about playing for — and living in — the only Canadian NBA city. And most of the sentiments have been anything but positive, with them calling out the "disadvantages" that come with it.
The discourse all started when ex-Raptors forward Thaddeus Young, who spent parts of three seasons with the team from 2021-24, appeared on Tidal League’s Out The Mud Podcast to lament his time with the club.
Young's complaints about playing for the Raptors seem to centre around things like having to travel through Canadian customs each time the team returned to the city from a road trip, how cold it can be in Canada, getting "stuck at the border" and having to be far away from his American-based family — all issues that plenty of extremely high-paid athletes in the NBA and other leagues like the NHL and MLB face wth regularity.
"It was tough on my family. ... My kids were hurting," said Young, noting that his wife even threatened to not come with him if re-signed with Toronto, which he ultimately did in 2022. To his credit, Young says she had similar reservations about Minnesota.
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"Toronto, I like kicking it in the night clubs, but I couldn't see myself playing there," said 14-year NBA veteran Tony Allen on the podcast in response to Young.
Former Raptors Forward Thad Young didn't like living in Toronto:
"I ain't gon lie, being in Toronto is kinda tough...It's cool to visit, be there for 4-5 days that's cool but to live there, yea it's tough...It's almost like you in a disadvantage..."
[via @OutTheMudTL ] pic.twitter.com/E5NC6adNvh
— Hassan O (@YourBoyH2O) March 19, 2025
As you would expect, passionate fans of the Raptors and defenders of Toronto did not take Young's comments too well, flocking to the comment sections on social to voice their displeasure with the remarks.
"This man acting like they’re flying commercial lol…," wrote another.
Another X user replied: "Nah you wrong for this [Young]. After all the love we showed you."
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"This guy got paid millions to sit on a bench and he’s complaining about customs and the weather?" wrote another.
"Then why did you sign an extension you moron," one fan replied.
Another fan posted: "I’m sorry, but honestly, complaining about this stuff is wild when you get to play a game you love for millions of dollars and the biggest complain you have is customs and the cold? I’m so tired of this narrative. Yes. It’s cold. It's cold in the U.S., too!! Goddamn!!"
Others simply asked why these athletes won't apply for a NEXUS card, which allows for faster border crossings for pre-approved travellers. Even with that in mind, the common sentiment among fans was that Young's comments exuded a certain type of "privilege."
"Listening to a multimillionaire athlete who is catered to in ways most cannot imagine, complaining about airport security and customs, just reeks of spoiled privilege & also frankly a lack of worldliness. Why much of the world can’t stand Americans," another fan wrote, in what seems to be a common sentiment among many who had a problem with Young's comments.
NBA players are so privileged that their biggest complaint is going through customs lmao
— William Lou (@william_lou) March 25, 2025
Fans are certainly riled up over Young's comments, but he isn't the only jaded ex-player to voice his complaints about playing in Toronto over the past few days.
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Rudy Gay, another former Raptor who played just 51 games with the team back in 2013, joined Young with his own not-so-glowing review of playing for the team, while taking a swipe at fans during his recent appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast.
Gay's complaints, like Young's, mostly centered around having to go through customs every time you go "in and out" of the city for "every game."
He then took a personal shot at Raptors fans:
"That weak-ass accent they got! 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," he said.
Canadians, Torontonians and Raptors fans reacted to those words exactly how you would've expected: not well.
"Did they also talk about how the Raptors got better after he was traded?" wrote one fan.
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"Trading him started what will possibly be the greatest Raptors era of my lifetime, and we traded him for scraps. He was the problem with that team not meshing in the first bit of 13-14," exclaimed another.
Another user posted, "This popped up on my timeline and I knew right away he had to say something bad about Toronto. He holds a grudge against the Raptors."
In the midst of all the hate for playing in Toronto from Young and Gay, a couple former ex-Raptors, Charlie Villanueva and Lou Williams, (somewhat) came to the defence of the franchise and city they each used to call home.
"My time in Toronto was nothing but amazing, but I will say there's an inconvenience, but bro you in the NBA making millions of dollars. Come on now, don't be a little bougie now... He's being a little Hollywood," Villanueva said on the Run Your Race Podcast recently.
Williams, meanwhile, said he "thoroughly enjoyed" his time in Toronto with the Raptors, but also acknowledged some of the "disadvantages" that come with playing in the NBA's only Canadian market.
It seems cool to have some ex-players like Villanueva and Williams have Toronto's back, but plenty are having a hard time with the whole complaining-about-customs thing — especially when you make the absurd money these guys make.
"Getting paid millions and having to suffer through customs 41 times a year is horrible — I couldn't imagine the pain and agony," quipped one commenter.
"Funny you almost don't hear baseball or hockey b**** about customs. They just accept it for what it is, part of the travel grind. NBA American born players are definitely softer & more bougie," wrote another.
It certainly has to be a little inconvenient crossing the border so much, especially in comparison to playing for an American team when you only have to cross the border a couple times per season. But flying private, with a whole staff of people on your side making travel and border-crossing as seamless as possible, really makes that aspect a whole lot easier.
Meanwhile, some fans also dispelled the whole "41 times through customs" narrative in an 82-game season, pointing out that it's common for teams to go on five-, six-game road trips throughout the year. In turn, it cuts down the amount of times you'd re-enter Canada.
"So basically you go through customs 15-20 times a year. That’s basically your average business person. Relax." One X user replied.
"It drives me nuts when they say the cross the border 41 times, as if they don't do road trips with multiple games involved." Wrote another.
That whole "double-tax" thing? Yeah, that's a myth, too. Taxes are notoriously higher in Canada, but players get taxed on a game-to-game basis depending on the city they are in that night and that state or province's tax laws — something many were quick to point out.
"What does double taxed mean tf???? No way these guys believe that," wrote one fan.
"You do not get double taxed. There's a treaty in place between the U.S. and Canada to ensure that (first-hand experience)," posted another.
Others, rightfully so, are simply over asking jaded former players, who made limited impact on the franchise, what they think about their team and city.
"They be asking retired ringless players. Go ask Lowry or Deebo," one fan wrote.
"... Why not ask DeRozan or Lowry about Toronto? If TO was so bad, why did Carter come back into the fold? Ask Alvin Williams about his time... These guys are nobody role players."
Thad Young
Charlie V
Lou Will
Rudy Gay
How is this still a thing? Why are we asking guys who spent 1-2 years in Toronto about the city? And, I can’t stress this enough, who cares what they think… EH? 😜 https://t.co/z89lQN0fkD
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) March 26, 2025
These ex-Raptor players surely won't be the last to complain about playing for the NBA's only Canadian franchise, and they definitely aren't the first.
Many will (or maybe won't) remember Goran Dragic, who famously stated "Toronto is not my preferred destination, I have higher ambitions," when the team acquired him before flipping him to Brooklyn for, hilariously enough, Thad Young, in February 2022.
Dragic later apologized to fans, but the damage was mostly done.
Some things will just never change.