Drake Doris Burke
By Andrew Bucholtz on

Toronto Raptors’ “global ambassador” Drake was honored (or honoured; he is Canadian, after all) by the team with a “Drake Night” Wednesday, but he did some honoring of his own with his choice of attire. Here’s Drake, at a Raptors’ press conference ahead of their game with the Warriors, wearing a shirt with a picture of ESPN analyst and reporter Doris Burke and “Woman Crush Everyday” on it:

Here’s what he said about why he chose the shirt:

“You know, I’m just a big Doris Burke fan, and I just thought tonight would be the night to let her know how much she’s appreciated over here at OVO. It was either this or a suit, and [Raptors’ GM] Masai [Ujuri] stole my suit, so…”

Drake wore the shirt during the game as well:

Update: And Drake gave an interview about the shirt to ESPN’s Israel Guiterrez on the broadcast:

And part of that interview involved an invitation to Burke to have dinner at his house, which she later tweeted that she accepted:

The latest

As Alysha Tsuji notes at For The Win, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Drake showing his appreciation for Burke. Here’s what Burke told Rembert Browne in a June NY Mag piece about Drake making a heart sign at her during Game Six of the Raptors-Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals:

Can I tell you something about the last time I was there? I just could not believe this happened. Drake turned around — my seat at game six was right behind him — makes a heart shape [with his hands], and points at me. I’m looking around behind me to see who’s there, turn back to him, and then he points and he does it again. I texted my daughter and said, “You need to know Drake just did this to me.”

So this is a long-running thing for Drake, and it’s cool to see him honoring Burke, a very talented commentator who deals with a lot of crap (as discussed in that Browne interview). Sadly for him, Burke isn’t working this game; ESPN’s coverage will feature Mark Jones, Hubie Brown & Israel Gutierrez. But Drake could always follow this up by dropping a song about Burke…

[For The Win]

 

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz