Norm Kelly, Toronto Politician, Comments on Dwyane Wade Shooting During Anthem

Canadian politician Norm Kelly defended Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade after Wade continued his pregame warm-up during the singing of Canada's national anthem, "O Canada," on Saturday before Game 3 of the Heat's playoff series with the Toronto Raptors.

"I empathize with Wade," said Kelly, per TMZ Sports. "I played hockey, baseball, football. ... I understand the rituals athletes go through, especially before a playoff game. I don’t think he intended to be disrespectful."

"It's something that I do before every game that I prepare for, and I've been doing it my whole career," Wade said of the situation, per ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "So I understand whatever is said from that standpoint, but I'm not a disrespectful person. So if anybody thinks I'm being disrespectful towards a country, then they have no idea of who Dwyane Wade is."

ESPN.com's Pablo S. Torre thought the whole incident was being overblown:

The Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat countered, though, that Wade deserved a certain level of scorn:

While Kelly was diplomatic in his response, one of his colleagues was less measured. The Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur shared a letter written by politician Mike Colle to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver asking the 12-time All-Star to issue a public apology.

Julia Brake, a teacher in Toronto, found a way to put the story to good use:

The controversy is likely to die down in the coming days. This wasn't the case of Wade making a political statement, like then-Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refusing to stand for the "Star-Spangled Banner" or former MLB star Carlos Delgado doing the same for "God Bless America."

If the Raptors want to avenge the perceived slight against their country, their best response will be bouncing the Heat out of the playoffs. Toronto has a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4 on Monday night.