While many Canadian kids grow up playing hockey in the backyard or at the rink, Cory Joseph — from a basketball family through and through — was shooting hoops for as long as he could remember.

And from the start, Toronto’s neophyte NBA team was the one that caught young Cory’s attention.

On Thursday, Joseph, from Pickering, Ont., just a short commute from the Air Canada Centre, was introduced for the first time as a member of the Toronto Raptors.

Against all odds, his wildest dreams had come true.

“Of course, I dreamed about it. Thought I was a Raptor outside on my driveway when I was shooting hoops. You know, ‘five, four, three, two, one, he scores, Raptors win,’” Joseph reminisced.

“I thought it over in my head. I still don’t know how I’m going to feel when I put that jersey on and I go out and play that first game for the Toronto Raptors. It’s still kind of surreal to me. I’ve gotta let it settle in a little bit.

“It feels amazing. I just can’t wait to put on that jersey and go out there on that court and represent my city and the country.”

Joseph will get that chance in the fall and the Raptors, an organization that pursued him even before he was drafted by San Antonio, were thrilled to see the Spurs let him go after having put in so much time and work developing him.

“You couldn’t ask for anything better than what that guy has gone through,” said Raptors president/general manager Masai Ujiri.

“Play for one of the best coaches in the world ever (Gregg Popovich) and one of the best organizations in the world ever. What more could you ask for? I wish I could go there for four years.

“It’s a blessing for us that he has gone through that and we are able to get him now. Now it’s another stage where he comes and he plays a role and he figures it out here. But (his San Antonio experience) was a great help for him.”

There is no disagreement on that from Joseph.

“He taught me a lot from the game to the mental aspect of the game. I’ve learned a whole bunch. I could go on forever about what Coach Pop and all the players over there did for me,” he said.

“On the Spurs, nobody gets anything handed to them. I’ve had to work for everything I got.

“Going down to the D-League is part of the mental aspect that I’m talking about, being able to stay sharp mentally, not get down on yourself and keep on working and getting better at your craft.”

Joseph definitely did that, stepping in admirably as a replacement for Tony Parker when needed, excelling in the D-League and for the Canadian senior team.

And now, he’s a trail-blazer, the first local to suit up for the Raptors with his career still in front of him (Jamaal Magloire spent his final season with Toronto).

“I definitely feel responsibility. I definitely want to do well, but I try not to put too much pressure on myself because, after all, it’s basketball, it’s something that I love to do. I’m just going to go out there and play my game,” Joseph said.

But he isn’t here only because of his citizenship.

“I’ve always said we weren’t just going to go out and get a Canadian player just to get a Canadian player,” Ujiri said.

“It’s not what we are trying to do. We’re trying to win. We’re trying to give opportunity, too, when the opportunity is right and I think was the right opportunity hopefully.

“He comes in with a basketball player’s credentials. It’s not just the passport which I think was very appealing to us.

“He didn’t get picked up just because he’s Canadian. He got picked up because he’s a good basketball player and there is a role that we need to fill and hopefully he meets that opportunity.

JOSEPH PLUS LOWRY AN ENTICING MATCH

Forget any of the point guard controversies of year’s past in Toronto, the Raptors are excited to see Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph bring out the best in each other.

And with the NBA increasingly going small, the duo should spend quite a bit of time playing along-side each other.

“He brings competiveness. I think he brings a complement to Kyle Lowry who is an all-star and I think they will play at times together at times,” said Raps president/GM Masai Ujiri.

“He’s a great point guard, and I’m very excited to play and back him upp,” Joseph said of Lowry.

“He’s a two-way player. Somebody that pushes the ball. He’s a composed player, obviously he’s a young player in the NBA but he might be a young vet. He’s been part of a championship team that we all look up to in some kind of way,” Ujiri said.

Joseph is excited to contribute and to push the Raptors far deeper into the post-season than ever before.

Joseph pointed out that his first three seasons went Western Conference Final, NBA Final and NBA title.

“I’ve been telling Masai I’m not used to getting out the playoffs short, so we gotta go far. But I learned a lot from those guys, the mental aspect, what it takes to get that far. Mentally, things have to be going right for the team, you have to be gelling, players have to be healthy, and a little bit of luck as well. I learned a lot just in that process and I think I can bring that mindset here.”