When Trinidadian-Canadian Jamaal Magloire founded the Toronto Revellers — now the city's largest Caribbean masquerade band — he says it was for his community and the younger generation.

The former Toronto Raptor and band leader of more than 2,000 masqueraders, started the collective 11 years ago.

"I'm very passionate about this culture," Magloire told CBC Toronto's Dwight Drummond from the band's Scarborough camp, where staff are putting the finishing touches on an array of masquerade costumes for Saturday's Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade.

"The way I was treated as an NBA basketball player is what we try to pass onto the young revellers."

Toronto Revellers masquerade band take part in the 2010 Caribana parade. (Adrien Veczan/Canadian Press)

A Toronto native born to immigrant parents from Trinidad and Tobago, Magloire, 39, says he is trying to give back to his community for supporting him on and off the court during the 12 years he played professionally.

"I go back in time and think about the times I didn't play in games, or I was benched, or I had a bad game, and these are the same people that you see here today that used to call me on the phone, used to give me words of encouragement, used to continue to push me," he explained.

Former Toronto Raptor Jamaal Magloire is giving back to the Caribbean community that supported him on the court. (Pawel Dwulit/Canadian Press)

Now Magloire is showing off his culture in a whirl of colour, sound and community at the city's 50th annual Caribbean Carnival parade this weekend — a spectacle that's credited with keeping the tradition and spirit of the Caribbean celebration alive in the city.

"This is a way for us to showcase one of the many cultures that Ontario has to offer," he said. "You know how diverse Toronto is? You can walk down the street and see so many different ethnicities and the fact that the Caribbean has their culture to offer towards the whole world is something that I want to be a part of and it's something I take very seriously."

'Let the rhythm move you'

Young Toronto Revellers help staff add the finishing touches to their masquerade costumes for Saturday's Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade. (CBC)

The Toronto Revellers' theme this year is called "Music: Let the rhythm move you."

In the last five months, Magloire says his staff members have been working tirelessly to make the theme come to life through their masquerade costumes.

Each section of the Mas band is accompanied by a colour signifying a genre of music and an accompanying song, he explains.

Magenta and violet coloured costumes will accent a nod to Toronto with Drake's song, Hotline Bling, while green and yellow spell out Bob Marley's chart topping song, One Love, and white symbolizes Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's composition, Winter Dreams.

"This is our display that we are going to present to the world," Magloire said.