Eric Cradock co-owner of the Toronto Huskies of the BAA/NBA and founder of the Montreal Alouettes

On my walk at Aurora Cemetery in Aurora, Ontario, I discovered the grave of Eric Cradock, the co-owner who originally brought professional basketball to Toronto.

Before the Raptors arrived in 1995, Toronto had a short-lived team called the Toronto Huskies. In 1946, the city was awarded a franchise in the newly formed Basketball Association of America—what would eventually become the NBA.

Born in Toronto, Eric Cradock was already a millionaire in his early twenties through mining and stock investments. With a passion for sports, he co-founded the Montreal Alouettes football team in 1946 and, that same year, helped bring professional basketball north of the border, launching the Toronto Huskies who played out of Maple Leaf Gardens.

Opening night saw 7,090 fans watch the Huskies lose to the New York Knicks by just two points. But the season quickly spiraled. Cradock hired non-basketball personnel to run the team—Lew Hayman, a football executive, coached the Huskies, and was eventually replaced by former New York Yankees baseball star Red Rolfe.

Cradock hired non-basketball personnel to run the team—Lew Hayman (football) and Red Rolfe (baseball)

Despite creative promotions—like free admission if you were taller than 6’10” Husky center George Nostrand—Toronto fans didn’t bite. The Huskies folded after just one season, a footnote in NBA history, but an important early chapter in Toronto’s love affair with basketball.

Eric Cradock died on October 15, 1985. He was 73.