The Raptors Shared A Video Of Players Trying To Speak French & Fans Can't Handle It
Some of them really went for it!
In Canada, we honour our bilingualism. Heck, you can’t even run for office here unless you speak both French and English fluently, but should our athletes uphold the same standard? Well, given the fact that the majority of Toronto’s athletic celebs come from different parts of the world, it’s not really fair of us to expect them to speak French, but that didn’t stop the Toronto Raptors from trying.
The Raptors recently released a video showing a handful of their roster attempting to adapt a little French into their vocab. The players, who are currently preparing for next season in Quebec City, did their best to represent all Canadians. However, some of them were clearly struggling more than others.
In the video, classic Raptors mottos such as “We The North,” “Bet On Yourself,” and other miscellaneous phrases are translated into French and presented to the players. The franchise’s current line-up then does their best to tell the camera what the phrase means in English.
OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet kick off the segment, clearly struggling to overcome the language whereas Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam, both of whom are fluent in francais, pass with flying colours.
The video appeared to resonate with French fans who praised the team for attempting to go bilingual:
"C’est tellement drôle" (Serge’s reactions are priceless too) wrote one french-speaking Twitter user.
"Much love from Montreal," wrote another user.
One player notably missing from the video was Kyle Lowry, who caused a stir on social media last week after ESPN called him “oddly shaped.”
“Kyle Lowry is listed at 6-foot-1. He is oddly shaped. He'll never be seen as the quickest or most athletic player on the court. And yet, despite all that, he constantly finds himself making winning plays,” the media outlet stated in a blurb underneath the player’s new ranking.
The description of the player caused some fans to lash out at ESPN for alleged body-shaming the basketball star. "If Kyle Lowry is 'oddly shaped' then the rest of us are Picassos in a blender," wrote one Twitter user.