NBA Superstar Lashes Out at Toronto Raptors’ Mascot and Forces Refs to Banish the Dinosaur

The Toronto Raptors are currently playing their home games without fans due to surging Covid cases and their mascot is doing his best to give the team a homecourt advantage.

That homecourt advantage briefly worked Tuesday night, when Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker erupted at the cheering mascot, aptly nicknamed “The Raptor,” forcing referees to send the dinosaur away from the court and into the corner of the empty building.

With 6.5 seconds left in the game and the Suns leading Toronto by just one point, Booker was at the line for a crucial free throw. The Raptor did his best to disrupt Booker’s first free throw attempt by waving his arms and feet while standing behind the basket.

Booker looked livid as he turned to the officials asking them to do something about the cheering mascot and they obliged, sending The Raptor to go take a knee and calm his antics.

After the game, Booker said there was no animosity toward the dinosaur. “We hashed it out. We homies now,” Booker told reporters. “We’re cool now, though.” But that’s probably only because the refs took his side and nullified Toronto’s homecourt advantage by putting their lone fan in timeout.

Usually road NBA teams have to deal with nearly 20,000 screaming fans at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Booker couldn’t handle one cuddly a dinosaur? The Suns shooting guard hit his second free throw without interruption from The Raptor, giving Phoenix a three-point lead before they went on to close out the game 99-95.

Watch above via TSN