Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
In 2014, sports coverage is a 24-hour thing. From Twitter to Instagram to online and print media, there’s almost constant access to the lives of professional athletes. For Raptors fans who still can’t get enough, there is Open Gym.
A behind-the-scenes show following the team, Open Gym’s third season premiered Tuesday at 1 p.m ET on TSN4. Bell subscribers had access to the episode via the Bell TV app one day before the television broadcast with a version that featured an additional six minutes of footage. The show will air on TSN4 every Tuesday at 1 pm ET and will re-air Wednesdays (TSN4) at 7 p.m ET, Thursdays on NBATV Canada at 7 p.m. ET and will be available on YouTube every Friday at 11 a.m ET. Bell TV subscribers will also have access to an after show airing reaction after each episode.
While Open Gym is not a new concept — plenty of other teams have had behind-the-scenes shows — what makes it special is that it’s unscripted and out of the ordinary. One year ago, producers were with the team in Los Angeles for a West Coast road trip. The struggling Raptors were headed to the arena when they heard news of the trade that sent Rudy Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, Chuck Hayes, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons. Rather than stepping back as things unfolded, the crew continued rolling.
The result was a touching look at how a trade affects a franchise. The footage of players embracing in the locker room after the news was revealed was raw and emotional. It showed a side that athletes are rarely able to express in day-to-day media appearances and it brought fans closer than they are allowed to be anywhere else.
“It happened so quickly [that] everyone involved, outside of management, was hearing the news at the same time,” Open Gym producer Jeff Landicho said. “Once you see that emotion of players that have grown so close, they spend more time together than they do with their own families. It was quite the scene and it was something that will stick with us for a long time. For us to be able to share it with the fans was remarkable. A lot of credit to [Raptors public relations director] Jim [LaBumbard] for allowing us to continue to shoot and just recognizing the situation and knowing we would be respectful to the guys as well.”
This moment, facilitated by the trust between the team and support staff and Open Gym producers Jeff Landicho and Jeff Rocchi, was just one example of how behind-the-scenes the show goes. That trust is also on display in each episode when players allow Landicho, Rocchi and their cameras into their homes to spend time with their families.
As much as Landicho loves chronicling the on-court moments and locker room aftermath, it’s getting to show who the players are as people that is his favourite part of the job. With a locker room full of players bonding over experiencing fatherhood for the first time, there are plenty of non-basketball “firsts” to document.
“As a father myself, and coming from a close-knit family, capturing the moments with all their new families [is my favourite part],” Landicho said. “They’re all at the point in their life where they’re starting this new realm in their lives where they’re taking the step into becoming family men.”
Although Open Gym is in its Third Season, Landicho and Rocchi have been with this particular roster since before DeMar DeRozan, the longest-tenured current Raptors player, was drafted.
“We were there at USC seeing him for the first time before he even got drafted by the Raptors,” Landicho said. “We were there during his draft workout, his first day in Toronto, his first All-Star weekend seeing him grow, obviously into a man, but into a father as well. That’s something that’s pretty precious.”
Even more good news for Canadian basketball fans: In addition to the ins and outs of this particular Raptors squad, the third season of Open Gym will expand its scope beyond just this roster of players. With a 26-episode weekly slate, there is room to explore how the game has grown in this country.
“We’re going to go a lot deeper into the souls of the team and continue to go deeper into telling basketball stories,” Landicho said. “Not just of the players, but of the Raptors as a family tree. We’re going to go into the alumni, we’re going to go into the impact it’s had on Canadian basketball. We’ll look at the fans, people in the organization, we’re going to branch out into deeper stories throughout the year.”
With the team already off to a franchise-best start, what could be better than reliving those early wins and witnessing how it all went down.