By Canadian Press

Mayor says Toronto should be putting hoops up, not putting them down

Jun 27, 2019 | 8:32 AM

Toronto Mayor John Tory says the city should be putting basketball nets up, not pulling them down.

Tory’s comments follow a video that purports to show a city worker dismantling a net went viral.

In a tweet late Wednesday, Tory said the city should be encouraging kids to play — a message the mayor says he has delivered to parks staff.

The mayor followed up Thursday morning, tweeting that he has personally asked the recreation department to stop taking down nets at the end of the day.

Wednesday’s short Twitter clip was posted by user Mitch Robson with the caption, “Absolutely sickening display @cityoftoronto let the kids play!”

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It shows a young player dribbling a ball as the net comes down, then pans to a group of young players lamenting the hoop’s removal.

One of them says, “I can still have just as much fun out here” as he proceeds to dribble to the rimless hoop and to slam the ball off the backboard.

The video sparked widespread backlash online, with Canada Basketball responding “No rim. No history,” along with a photo of Kawhi Leonard’s historic, rim-hugging buzzer-beater in the NBA playoffs.

The photo of Leonard’s iconic shot was subtly edited to remove the rim.

“Everyone deserves the chance to play,” Canada Basketball tweeted. “Keep the nets up.”

The Canadian Press