It’s notable that a team which was in a forerunning league of the National Basketball Association was the Toronto Huskies of the Basketball Association of America.
It took, however, 48 years from the folding of the Huskies until the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies signaled the return of NBA basketball to Canada.
Today saw an announcement that, after 27 years of existence, a WNBA franchise is being planned for Toronto.
It’s an interesting development, given the amount of talent that is coming out of Canada. Aaliyah Edwards, one of the finest players on the Connecticut Huskies, has represented Canada on the international level, and a number of good players are developing at the junior level.
Amazingly, Canada has won gold medals in international competition at the Pan-American level. The Leafs won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games, beating an American team which had future pros Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Moriah Jefferson.
The formation of the WNBA Toronto team (which has yet to have a nickname, colors, or logo) is at a propitious time for sport in Canada, especially at the pro levels for women in ice hockey and international soccer (where both Canadian Olympic teams are your current gold-medal holders).
Given the lack of growth in the WNBA (the last new team to join the league was all the way back in 2007), the moves to the Bay Area and Toronto are well-strategized moves.
And I hope they aren’t the last.
