The Raptors are leading the city 3-1 ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, meaning that tonight could be historic not just for Raptors fans, but for Canada as a whole. With the NBA's latest announcement about tonight's Canadian national anthem, Raptors game 5 will be extra special. This morning, the NBA made the official announcement that all fans are invited to sing the Canadian national anthem tonight. With the Raptors just one win away from securing their first title in franchise history, having the Canadian anthem sung exclusively by the crowd will undoubtedly provide the team with an extra confidence boost to intensify their home court advantage. But on an equally important note, having Canadians belt out the national anthem is extra special for the Raptors' fanbase. Although there have been countless occasions when anthems were started by a singer and finished by the fans, this is the first time in recent memory that the Canadian anthem has been sung only by fans from start to finish, reports The Big Lead. GRAMMY Award-winning R&B singer @MonicaBrown will perform the U.S. national anthem ahead of Game 5 of the 2019 #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV, while the @Raptors invite all fans to join in the singing of the Canadian anthem.⏰: 9:00pm/et 🇺🇸: ABC 🇨🇦: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/ASj2nA2CVl— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2019 The entire country is pulling for the Raptors to claim victory over the Warriors tonight, and having an arena full of 20,000 singing fans will surely remind Toronto of that. If that's not enough to push the Raptors to play their best and win the championship, I don't know what is! Tonight's Canadian anthem will be sung by the fans. Raptors just leaving it up to the crowd. Really cool.Monica doing the U.S. anthem.— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) June 10, 2019 Grammy award-winning R&B singer Monica will be performing the U.S. national anthem. No offence to her, but it's going to be tough to outshine the melodious bellow of an entire arena. Toronto fans couldn't be more impressed with the Raptors' decision to let fans lead the national anthem. So tonight at the @Raptors game...there will be no celebrity singer or singers for the Canadian national anthem...because tonight's singers are the FANS! This is such a great idea and I already have chills thinking about it! #WeTheNorth— Jaynel White (@Jaynel_White) June 10, 2019 Raptors fans are singing the national anthem tonight. That's an absolute wonderful idea. 🍁🍁 #WeTheNorth— Andrew Rocha (@AndymcRocha) June 10, 2019 Tonight's #Game5 🇨🇦 national anthem will be sung by.... THE FANS! #WeTheNorth @Raptors #Toronto https://t.co/tTjSadUCd3— Richie Favalaro (@RichieFavalaro) June 10, 2019 @BleacherReport Tonight’s Raptors Game’s National Anthem will be sung by the fans. Isn’t this the best idea ever? #YesItIs— Joanne Brigden TLMN (@crankyoldbag) June 10, 2019 Monica is singing the U.S. national anthem tonight for Game 5, while the @Raptors have asked all the fans in-arena and across Canada to sing "O Canada!" I feel like it's fitting. #WeTheNorth #NBAFinals #Canada #Raptors— Sean Previl (@SeanPrevil) June 10, 2019 Good morning Toronto & @raptors fans, finally game day is here!!! After 25 years, we are 1 win away from winning it all. The national anthem will be sung by 20,000+ fans tonight, are you all ready??? 🔥🔥🔥 And no… https://t.co/wAVVUOghgA— Adam Markus Kwan (@adammarkkwan) June 10, 2019 Can’t wait to break out singing the Canadian national anthem after the Raptors win tonight— Dhabitat (@johnnydahahabra) June 10, 2019
