NBA All-Star celeb Tom Cavanagh calls Toronto Raptors ‘a model franchise’

TORONTO – Despite the chilly temperatures, there’s perhaps no better location than Toronto for this year’s NBA All-Star festivities, says actor Tom Cavanagh.

“The Flash” star notes the Toronto Raptors are “the coolest — if not the coolest — franchise” these days.

“It’s got Drake as an ambassador, it’s got ‘We the North,’ it’s got great slogans’” the Ottawa native said on the red carpet before playing for the Canadian team in Friday’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

“It’s becoming a model franchise, and for the NBA to recognize that and bring all-star up here I think is not only terrific for the NBA but terrific for Canada.”

Cavanagh added the Raptors are achieving such success without “a massive amount of star power” on their player roster.

“They’re a community, it’s togetherness … and the franchise itself is something that people (are) scrambling to pattern after,” he said.

“The great thing about ‘We the North’ and all that, that was genuine stuff and so it wasn’t a copycat off something else.”

Cavanagh, who plays scientist Harrison Wells on “The Flash,” felt at home at Friday’s game at the Ricoh Coliseum.

In the 1980s, he lived in the city while performing in the musical “Shenandoah,” which eventually took him to Broadway. It ran at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, just around the corner from the Ricoh.

“Standing here, driving in here today, massive, massive wonderful memories,” he said.