The Toronto Raptors’ very own superfan, Nav Bhatia, has become the first ever fan to be honoured at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bhatia is one of the team’s biggest cheerleaders, attending every Raptors home game in his courtside seats. He’s been going to games since 1995, when the Raps played their inaugural season. He went to the first ever home game — then played at the city’s baseball stadium, SkyDome — and hasn’t missed a game since.
In honor of his dedication to the team, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, a place typically reserved for players and for team executives.
It’s a huge honor, but it isn’t the first time that his support has been rewarded; in 2019, Bhatia received a championship ring from the Raptors. His display in the Hall includes a replica of that ring, his courtside seat, and the original Raptors jersey he was presented in 1998 when he was declared a “superfan.” It also features one of his turbans, the first turban ever in the Hall of Fame.
Bhatia told CTV News, “I’m still pinching myself,” and has joked that his devotion to the Raptors is an addiction. Every year Bhatia buys about 3,000 tickets and gives them to children in the Sikh community, as well as other groups across the GTA, and in 2018, he founded the Superfan Foundation as a way to unite people through sport.
