Reason to Love Toronto: because the Next LeBron James is from Thornhill
When 17-year-old Andrew Wiggins leapt into the air and reared back a tomahawk dunk this past summer at the prestigious LeBron James Skills Academy, even James himself jumped out of his seat in awe. Wiggins, the son of an ex–NBA player father and an Olympic track medalist mother, started his ascent at Vaughan Secondary School, where he led the Voyageurs to a provincial championship in 2011. Today, he’s considered the best high school player in the world and is expected to be a top NBA draft pick as early as 2014. At six-foot-seven, Wiggins blocks and rebounds, shoots three-pointers with ease and explodes to the hoop with a nearly four-foot vertical leap—the kind of all-around skills that draw comparisons to LeBron James. Wiggins is spending his last year of high school at a top prep academy in West Virginia, and big colleges are salivating at the chance to recruit him. Canada has long been an afterthought when it comes to high-level basketball, but that’s about to change, thanks to an abundance of talented Toronto-based ballers. Wiggins is by far the best.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/reason-to-love-toronto-next-lebron-james-andrew-wiggins/&title=Reason to Love Toronto: because the Next LeBron James is from Thornhill&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/jan13-Reason-to-Love-Toronto-LeBron-James-Andrew-Wiggins.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_183455" align="alignleft" width="189"] (Image: Ned Dishman/Getty Images)[/caption]
When 17-year-old Andrew Wiggins leapt into the air and reared back a tomahawk dunk this past summer at the prestigious LeBron James Skills Academy, even James himself jumped out of his seat in awe. Wiggins, the son of an ex–NBA player father and an Olympic track medalist mother, started his ascent at Vaughan Secondary School, where he led the Voyageurs to a provincial championship in 2011. Today, he’s considered the best high school player in the world and is expected to be a top NBA draft pick as early as 2014. At six-foot-seven, Wiggins blocks and rebounds, shoots three-pointers with ease and explodes to the hoop with a nearly four-foot vertical leap—the kind of all-around skills that draw comparisons to LeBron James. Wiggins is spending his last year of high school at a top prep academy in West Virginia, and big colleges are salivating at the chance to recruit him. Canada has long been an afterthought when it comes to high-level basketball, but that’s about to change, thanks to an abundance of talented Toronto-based ballers. Wiggins is by far the best.){kind=link}
I don’t understand. Why should we love Toronto, because Andrew is from Thornhill? What does one have to do with the other? Why are you equating Thornhill with Toronto? You’re Toronto life and you don’t know the difference between Thornhill and Toronto?
Old hometown , respect
Daver, Wiggins is essentially from Toronto. Thornhill/Toronto basically he’s from the GTA. It’s all semantics.Toronto Life showing love to hoops is better than no coverage at all. Thanks for posting something about hoops Toronto life. The talent level of Canadian ballers is rising rapidly and in a few years we will be a global power in the 2nd most popular sport in the world!
I’d only love him if he gets drafted to the Raptors
It’s not semantics, and he’s not “essentially from Toronto” because he’s from Thornhill. If you don’t know the difference between Thornhill and Toronto, you don’t know Toronto and you should stop pretending you do.
Hey kid with amazing talent from Thornhill, way to go man, do your hometown proud! You don’t need to be from Toronto to be great.
TL, thanks for showcasing this kid from the GTA. But the GTA is not synonymous with Toronto and I shouldn’t have to tell you that.