The Influentials 2017: Gods of sport
Toronto’s most dominant athletes
AUSTON MATTHEWS
Maple Leafs
He burst onto the scene with four goals in his first NHL game. He finished 2016 with the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie and the fourth-highest-selling jersey of the season, behind only living legends Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
SEBASTIAN GIOVINCO
Toronto FC
Toronto FC, long the laughingstock of MLS, has become its marquee franchise, thanks largely to Giovinco, the team’s undisputed star. In the three years the five-foot-four Italian has played for the Reds, he has scored 54 goals in 84 games.
KYLE LOWRY
Raptors
The Raptors thrive with him as their floor general. His three-year, $100-million deal, his second contract with the red and black, makes him the sixth-highest-paid player in the NBA—and that doesn’t even count his battery of endorsement deals.
JOSH DONALDSON
Blue Jays
The Jays’ best player and clubhouse leader lost most of the spring to a calf injury. When he returned, he hit 33 home runs in just 113 games. At that pace, he’d have flirted with a whopping 50 dingers for the season—and, possibly, another MVP title.
ANDRE DE GRASSE
Track
The heir apparent to the title of World’s Fastest Man is on the cusp of global conquest. Puma and Gatorade signed him to massive sponsorship deals. Now recovered from a hamstring injury, he’s gearing up for a major August meet in Toronto. After that, his focus turns to Tokyo 2020.
More Influentials
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AUSTON MATTHEWS
Maple Leafs
He burst onto the scene with four goals in his first NHL game. He finished 2016 with the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie and the fourth-highest-selling jersey of the season, behind only living legends Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
SEBASTIAN GIOVINCO
Toronto FC
Toronto FC, long the laughingstock of MLS, has become its marquee franchise, thanks largely to Giovinco, the team’s undisputed star. In the three years the five-foot-four Italian has played for the Reds, he has scored 54 goals in 84 games.
KYLE LOWRY
Raptors
The Raptors thrive with him as their floor general. His three-year, $100-million deal, his second contract with the red and black, makes him the sixth-highest-paid player in the NBA—and that doesn’t even count his battery of endorsement deals.
JOSH DONALDSON
Blue Jays
The Jays’ best player and clubhouse leader lost most of the spring to a calf injury. When he returned, he hit 33 home runs in just 113 games. At that pace, he’d have flirted with a whopping 50 dingers for the season—and, possibly, another MVP title.
ANDRE DE GRASSE
Track
The heir apparent to the title of World’s Fastest Man is on the cusp of global conquest. Puma and Gatorade signed him to massive sponsorship deals. Now recovered from a hamstring injury, he’s gearing up for a major August meet in Toronto. After that, his focus turns to Tokyo 2020.
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