When Eric Smith lines up in the Toronto Raptors radio booth, he’s often at the forefront of something that will be remembered for years to come.
Along with his usual partner, Paul Jones, the duo has had the pleasure of calling many of the Raptors’ greatest moments in franchise history, seeing the team go from an NBA afterthought to a powerhouse and eventual champion in the 2010s.
So when Smith’s brother-in-law, Andrew Bricker, approached him with the idea of writing a book about the Raptors, they had an interesting problem to solve: how do you tell an original story about a heavily covered team in a major media market?
Enter: We the Raptors: 30 Players, 30 Stories, 30 Years, an oral history of the Raptors co-authored by Smith and Bricker, which includes 30 new original interviews with some of the lesser-known names to don a Raptors jersey.
“I feel like the Toronto fanbase, as much as it appreciates the stars and the all-time greats, there is also a love and an appreciation that is arguably, at times, equal to that appreciation and that adoration… for the role players,” Smith said in an interview with Offside.
The book officially hit shelves on Nov. 4 and is being published through Simon & Schuster.
“[We wanted to find out], could we tell [Raptors history] through the guys behind the [star players]? And that’s where the genesis or the idea kind of stemmed from,” Smith added. “This is a collection of stories telling the history of the Raptors through the lens of the people we maybe don’t hear from as often.”
While many Raptors fans remember the likes of Vince Carter, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam, or Chris Bosh, one ex-Raptor stuck out to Smith.
Chris Childs played 95 games across two seasons with the Raptors from 2000-2002 alongside Carter, and spoke to Smith about some of the tougher issues faced away from the court.
“He battled substance abuse and addiction, and [spoke about] the impact that that had on his career, on his family, but then on his life, literally. If he didn’t get [help], he might not be here right now, let alone had a career,” Smith detailed.
“He opened up on how he really feels how now in life, and he can look back and recognize the moments [he might have overlooked]… [he saw] how important family was to him, to see the eyes through the eyes of his children, what his life was like as a player, let alone as a man.”
Childs, now 57, also spent time with the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets, last playing in the NBA in 2003.
“He called me randomly on a Thursday night in early October because he thought of something else that he wanted to share… just out of the blue,” Smith added “That, to me, speaks to how serious about this particular and how important it was to him, and how willing he was to share his stories and parts of his life.”
