Halifax woman will get NBA championship ring for her Raptors role

While the Toronto Raptors were on the road this spring taking home hard fought wins in the NBA playoffs, a Halifax woman was working behind the scenes to make sure their lives on and off the court were the best they could be.

"We're sort of helping them become not only good basketball players, but also better humans," Shelby Weaver told CBC's Maritime Noon from Toronto.

As the manager of player development for the team, Weaver helps the players start community initiatives, improve their nutrition and sleep, and build their brands.

The team's historic win against the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals hasn't fully hit her yet.

"It still seems very surreal," said Weaver, who grew up in Halifax and graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. "There's 29 other amazing NBA teams and winning the NBA championship is a bit like winning the lottery."

She'll soon get a championship ring and may even bring the trophy back to Nova Scotia on a tour this summer.

"It was incredible to see the support, not only in Toronto but across the country."

Weaver loved seeing the outdoor Jurassic Park viewing parties that popped up in her hometown of Halifax.

"Halifax has always been a basketball city."

The players don't put up a facade for the public, said Weaver.

"They are literally as you perceive them. We have this amazing, amazing group of high character guys that are just authentically themselves all the time," she said.

"They're just really, really good dudes."

Weaver did not expect to see the sheer volume of frenzied fans that turned up for their victory parade in Toronto on Monday.

The City of Toronto estimated more than a million people crowded the parade route streets, bringing the city to a virtual standstill for hours.

"Being in the middle of that — like just seeing people as far as the eye could see — I really could not have envisioned anything like that."

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