Duane Watson Joins the Show to Discuss Nike Crown League, Toronto Basketball, Raptors and More

In this episode of the ToT-cast, Chris Okrainetz and Demar Grant are joined by Duane Watson, who can be found at a variety of outlets, including: TSN, MLSE, NBA TV, the Raptors post-game show, and Sole Shift. They discuss the Nike Crown League (Watson is the commissioner of the league), the development of the Toronto basketball scene, Watson's music career prior to sports media, the Toronto Raptors, and more. Here’s a rundown of what was discussed on the podcast: - Watson discusses the Nike Crown League and where the idea originated from (0:48) - How they determine who plays in the Crown League (2:14) - Where the court design at Kerr Hall came from (5:10) - Why people should check out the Crown League (7:10) - We discuss the Toronto basketball scene as a whole, including phenom JR Barrett and the rising prep circuit (8:25) - Watson shares a few of his favourite outdoor courts in the city, plus a few stories from his days in the music industry and what led him to sports media (12:18) - We dive into Raptors talk where Watson gives us his opinion on the off-season and what the Eastern Conference improving means for the Raptors (22:19) - What is the Raptors offence? We try to dissect one of the NBA's biggest mysteries and how it can improve (34:30) - Jerry Stackhouse is now coaching the Raptors 905. What does this mean for their players? (37:23) - What is success for the Raptors and Kevin Durant's decision to join the Golden State Warriors (47:42) - With Duane "Sole Man" Watson being a huge sneaker head, we close out the show by asking him what his favourite pair of sneakers are (55:40) * * * You can listen to every episode of the ToT-cast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or stream it from our website. Make sure you not only subscribe to the show so you don’t miss any new episodes, but leave us a nice review — if you think we’ve earned it! Thanks for listening and be sure to follow us on Twitter @TipoftheTower, and like our Facebook page @Tip of the Tower.