Morning Briefing: Drake is making his presence felt in Toronto

Rapper Drake is a big fan of the Toronto Raptors and has been a visible presence at their playoff games, especially in the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. He has sideline seats in Toronto, but seems to have the freedom to roam wherever he wants. He has even managed to give Raptors coach Nick Nurse a shoulder massage during a game.

But he seems to take particular delight in trolling Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. From laughing at him when he misses free throws to waving goodbye to him when Antetokounmpo fouls out, Drake seems to love watching him struggle.

Georgios Dimitropoulos, a senior executive for Octagon Baketball Europe, the agency that represents Antetokounmpo, has had enough. In a since-deleted tweet on Wednesday, he wrote “Imagine a gig & an athlete on VIP seats, right next to the band, stands up on the stage just to show off during the entire game, knowing cameras are on him, occasionally even massaging the singer. Security&him both allow it. Never seen anything as disrespectful as this before...”

The series is tied, 2-2 and returns to Milwaukee on Thursday night for Game 5. Game 6 is Saturday in Toronto and it will be interesting to see if Drake dials it down a notch now or decides to do even more.

Never cross Don Ford

In Monday’s Morning Briefing, we discussed the greatest defensive players in NBA history. You remember. Gar Heard graded out as the best of all time using the Defensive Rating statistic.

In the first paragraph of the item, I wrote: “Ask a random NBA fan who the best defensive player in NBA history was and you could get a variety of answers. Bill Russell. Michael Jordan. Hakeem Olajuwon. Dikembe Mutombo. Former Laker Don Ford. OK, probably not that last one.”

So there I was, minding my own business late Tuesday night when an email pops onto my screen. It’s from … Don Ford. Uh-oh. I carefully open it and in it, Ford writes:

“Ask a fan who the best sports writer in Los Angeles history was and you could get a variety of answers. Jim Murray, Bud Furillo, Bill Dwyre, Scott Ostler. Current writer Houston Mitchell. OK, probably not that last one. Certainly not that last one.”

And that my friends is how you deal with a smart-aleck sports writer. It turns out Don Ford can play defense after all.

It’s all LeBron’s fault

NBA TV ratings were down this season compared to last season and have also been down for the playoffs. Why? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has an explanation he shared in an interview with the “Today” show. It involves a certain Lakers star.

“I mean, face it, LeBron is one of the biggest stars in the world, and he also played in the East [last season]. And so, the reason I look a little bit tired is a lot of our games are in the West, and it’s late at night. And I recognize most people choose to go to sleep at a reasonable time.

“And so, from a rating standpoint, not having LeBron in the playoffs, not having him in the East, has clearly impacted ratings.”

Man, LeBron James is so important that he is the topic of discussion in a postseason that doesn’t even involve him.