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You know something special is happening when even James Naismith is cheering for the Raptors to win the NBA title Monday.

Naismith? You recognize the name?

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Yes, it was Canadian Dr. James Naismith — chaplain, physician, teacher and gentleman from the Ottawa area town of Almonte — who invented basketball.

And now the very first Canadian team is on the brink of winning it’s first NBA title, and the first ever outside of the United States.

No one could be happier than the original James Naismith’s grandson, who is named after the legendary figure.

“I always remind Americans that in addition to this being a great American game it’s also a Canadian game and one with Scottish roots,” said the originator of basketball’s grandson.

Going by Jim, the 82-year-old from Corpus Christie, Texas was named James Naismith after his grandfather and wears it proudly.

“It has been an interesting thing my whole life being the grandson of the man who invented basketball because I have seen just how much the game has meant to people,” he said in an interview. “It was not long ago a man came up to me and said that game that your granddad invented saved my life.”