Herbert Frederick Kuhn had a cough. It sounded like he had a cold, which would be a problem, because Kuhn was going to be in front of a microphone soon, exhorting a crowd of more than 19,000 basketball fans to cheer for the Toronto Raptors.

To them, he is known simply as Herbie.

And two hours before a recent home game, Herbie was coughing over a bottle of water at a coffee shop across the street from Air Canada Centre. He had not missed many games over the 21 years spent as the team’s public address announcer, and he was not going to miss this one.

“I don’t actually have a cold,” he said. “If you’ve read some of my stuff, you know that I haven’t always lived this way. And I still bear some of the souvenirs from those days, in terms of asthma from the smoking and stuff I used to do.”

Kuhn was raised in the Beach, in the east end of the old city, and he has been with the Raptors since the beginning. He was courtside for Vince Carter, for playoff wins and for playoff losses. He is a team chaplain, and also works with the Toronto Argonauts.

Before heading off to work, Kuhn (HK) sat down to answer 20 Questions from The Athletic, talking about mistaken identity, smoking and the healing power of water and honey:

1. Shhhhh-ooting two?

HK: Yes. I started my announcing career at a school called Vanier College, in Montreal. And if I’m not mistaken, I first heard it from another announcer in the CEGEP ranks during an away game. I didn’t know if I’d ever have the opportunity to use it. But since I’ve been announcing, and whenever we need two key free throws – and the crowd doesn’t know when to stop talking and screaming – it definitely comes in handy. And I never would have imagined it would have become one of my signature sounds.

2. How much explanation did fans at those early Raptors games need?

HK: At those earlier games, I would say, fair-to-medium. Maybe medium-to-medium-high. There was a lot of unknown. There was a lot of, ‘wow, this is a professional sports team, and this is Toronto, and this is the NBA and this is great.’ But basketball in ’94 and ’95 and ’96 wasn’t as well known – as in the structure and the fundamentals of the game – as it is now. Our fans have really done a crash course and become really knowledgable very quickly over the last couple of decades.

3. A New York Post columnist wrote “somebody would throw Spike Lee at the PA man” if they wished their opponents well after a playoff sweep, as you did to the Knicks in May 2000. How does a ‘PA man’ handle criticism?

HK: [laughs, coughs] When you are in a pressure cooker scenario, like courtside at an NBA game, you need to learn to let criticism roll off you pretty quickly.

4. What is your favourite word?

HK: Basketball related? [coughs]

5. Yes.

HK: Basketball related. Can it be two words? Raptors win.

6. How do you protect your pipes?

HK: Ooh, that’s a good one. Moderation. Wisdom. Avoidance of certain elements close to and after games. Right now would be a perfect example: I would love a cup of coffee. I would love a cup of coffee, but caffeine is high in acidity, and it goes straight to my throat. It would affect my voice. So water and honey. Water and honey. It’s all I do for three hours before a game. And 24 hours leading up to a game, no alcohol – no beer, no wine – no orange juice, no apple juice. I love spicy food. My mom is from the West Indies. I love hot, spicy stuff. Got to stay away from it. During the basketball season, for the most part, I stay away from spicy food. It’s very challenging.

7. Years before the Raptors arrived, how did a Grade 9 student in the Beach try to impress his friends?

HK: [smiles, pauses for nine seconds] By becoming part of the crowd, by trying to be cool like the other kids who weren’t ‘minor niners’ at Malvern Collegiate. By trying to hang around with the athletes, or other people who seemed to be popular. Wasn’t too confident in myself back then.

8. I’ve read that things started back then: Drugs and alcohol.

HK: Yes. Basically, Grade 10 is when I started smoking regularly. Drugs started shortly after that. It became part of a lifestyle, unfortunately. It became part of a lifestyle that took far too much control over me than I would like to admit, to the point where it affected my studies, it affected my family, it affected relationships. And it definitely affected my health.

9. I’ve read that you described it as an ego booster.

HK: That season of my life? Not today. Certainly not today. I’m not proud of it, by any stretch of the imagination. The only reason I would say I’m better off for having gone through those experiences is because now I have the opportunity to speak into the lives of younger people now. One of the most popular pieces of advice people give you is you learn from your own mistakes. My advice is this: Learn from someone else’s mistakes.

10. You quit smoking years ago: Do you miss it?

HK: No. Not at all. And my wife was the reason I quit.

11. What would the highlight of Herbie Kuhn’s athletic career sound like?

HK: In March of 1983, while playing goalie for Glen Ames Senior Public School, on the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens, and winning the city championship 3-2. On the ice, at the Gardens, was – as a young person – my athletic pinnacle. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of winning other championships, both in hockey and lacrosse and in rugby. I played rugby for 10 years. And since then, I’m a runner. I’ve completed six marathons.

12. Why do professional athletes need chaplains before a game?

HK: [furrows brow, pauses for 10 seconds] To help put things in an even perspective. There is just such a microscope, and such a bright spotlight that happens when they step out onto the floor — the ice, the football field, the track – and for many athletes, what happens out there plays with their identity and plays with their self value and their self worth. And to have time — an hour before tipoff or two-and-a-half hours before kickoff – to hear from God’s word, and to hear about unconditional love regardless of whether you scored a triple-double or whether you sat at the end of the bench all night, it really just brings things into perspective.

13. Who tends to make more use of your services: Basketball players or football players?

HK: Football.

14. Why?

HK: Football is a very violent sport, a very warrior-type sport. And I think that lends itself to a lot of injuries, a lot of uncertainty. Most guys going out to play tonight at the Air Canada Centre wouldn’t ever tell you, ‘well, you never know – this could be my last game.’ Every football player knows that any game could be his last game. And I think there’s something behind that. I think there’s something behind the shakiness, if you will, of a professional football career. And particularly in the CFL. You don’t have guys who are making a king’s ransom. If they get injured, they don’t necessarily have multi-millions to fall back on.

15. Knowing the current political climate, can faith be a divisive issue in a modern dressing room?

HK: I would say so. [coughs] Yes, the current political climate probably has played into that, somewhat. But I don’t think that it’s changed over the years. I think faith always has the potential to be a divisive issue within a locker room. Because some guys just don’t care. And some guys, unfortunately, have an animosity towards guys who are Christians. And sometimes, that will depend on how outgoing that Christian player is.

16. Which player has been the chattiest when they walk by the scorer’s table?

HK: [laughs] That’s a good one. Tony Allen, from the Grizzlies, had a lot to say a couple of games ago, but it had to do with his stats. And he was looking at the wrong guy, he was chirping at the wrong guy. It’s the first time I’ve ever been cursed out during a game. Even my boss said, ‘I don’t think any player’s ever cussed you before.’ I guess I’m just a recognizable face down there, and he thought, ‘well, if I’m short-changed a point, that’s the guy I’m going to yell at.’

17. What was the best part of being courtside for the height of the Vince Carter era?

HK: The unpredictability. When that guy got the ball in his hands, you just never knew what was going to happen. He could just as easily put the ball on the floor, step back, nail a jumper. He didn’t shoot the three often, but he could. He could dish out a beautiful pass. He could make it look so effortless. And what was truly tremendous was how he seemed to defy gravity. When Vince soared, it was a beautiful thing.

18. Should Vince have his number up in the Air Canada Centre rafters?

HK: I think so. I think that would be extremely appropriate. He helped transition hoops into the big time in this city. He should be immortalized in some way. Something permanent should be done.

19. Any stadium, any sport, anywhere in the world: Where would you want to work just one game?

HK: Lambeau. They’re nuts down there. Those cheeseheads are nuts. I would love to call a football game down there.

20. Complete the following sentence: “Old PA announcers never die, they just …”

HK: [laughs] Keep on talking. Keep. On. Talking. And hope that somebody’s still listening.