Where in the world are Raptors fans watching the NBA Finals? - Action News
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Where in the world are Raptors fans watching the NBA Finals?

The moment the Toronto Raptors clinchedtheir spot in the NBA Finals, Sidney Tso's wife turned to him and said: "You gotta go." He agreed, even though they live in Hong Kong.

Interactive Raptors map shows fans from around the world watching NBA Finals

Left to right: Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben and staff members Katrina Cockney, Caroline Loreen, Felicia Panaktolak and Stacey Cockney-Raddy stand at the Arctic Ocean sign in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. showing their support for the Toronto Raptors. (Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk/Facebook)

It was the moment the Toronto Raptors clinchedthe Eastern Conference Finals in Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks that Sidney Tso's wife turned to him and said: "You gotta go."

She meant leave their home in Hong Kong to go to Toronto to watch the Raptors'first game against the Golden State Warriors inthe NBA Finals.

And even though it cost $1,200 for a last-minute flight, and probably a lot more for a seat to the game, Tsosaid it was worth it.

"I think everyone understands it's more than basketball," he said while standing with a crowd outside Scotiabank Arena just hours before Game 1.

"It's about inspiration, it's about the underdog coming out on top, and it's about acknowledgement that this is one of the best cities in the world," he said.

Tso is originally from Toronto, but not all fans are.

Courtney and James Auclair, passionate basketball fans whoflew in from Brisbane, Australia to watch the team play, admit they have no ties to the city, although they've visited before and attended Raptors games.

"We just love the city, love the people and love the gamewecouldn't wait to be here," Courtney said.

James described the chance to see the Raptors play as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Fans travel from far and wide to witness NBA Finals

5 years ago
Duration 1:00
Oh, the places you'll go for the Raptors. Fans travelled from as far away as Australia and Hong Kong to witness Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Not all Raptors fans can hop on a plane at the last minute and buy tickets to this hotly anticipated playoff series, but they can still watch from afar even if it means getting up at "dark o'clock" in Amalfi, Italy, like Torontonian Carlton Whitfield, who is travelling around Europe.

Bill Pearcein Ontario's Muskoka region had double the entertainment for Game 2 on Sunday.

"Watching dinosaurs chasing balls and bears running around the neighbourhood," he tweeted, along with a video of a mother bear with her three cubs emerging from a neighbour's garage.

Dino Basso wouldn't let a plane ride from Calgary to Toronto stop him from keeping up with Pascal Siakam's32-point performancein Game 1.

"There was surprisingly no rush to the baggage claim on this Raptors night," he tweeted.

Canadian Olympic sprinterAaron Kingsley Brown posted a tribute to the "King of the North" Raptors forward KawhiLeonard all the way from Stockholm, Sweden. In a photo, Brown is seen squatting on a trackwith his tongue out, mirroring theiconic imageof Leonard hitting the buzzer-beating shotthatwon Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ersin the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

"Raptors in 6ix," Brown wrote.

Some fans are even watching from a different century altogether like the 19th in the case of Toronto's Fort York National Historic Site, a War of 1812-era museum,.

Where will you be watching the NBA Finals? Tell us in the comments below or tweetus @CBCToronto.

With files from Metro Morning