From washing dishes to the NBA: The unlikely rise of Raptors’ Chris Boucher

The future didn't look very bright for 19-year-old Chris Boucher.

He was earning less than $10 an hour as a part-time cook and dishwasher at a St-Hubert restaurant in Montreal. He had dropped out of high school when he was 16.

Everyone around him seemed to have more going on in their lives than he did. 

He was good at basketball despite the fact he'd only started playing the sport a year earlier. But he only played in city parks and recreational centres and his father, Jean-Guy, didn't see a purpose in his son spending time playing basketball.

Despite this, Boucher filled out an email form on the QC United team website in March 2012, listing his height at 6-foot-8.

'It must be a lie'

Igor Rwigema set up Alma Academy in 2012, partnering up with QC United Sports Club to create the first-ever French basketball academy in North America. He didn't put much stock in the authenticity of Boucher's email. 

"I felt like I knew all the kids that were 6-foot-6 and up in the city," said Rwigema. "So when I saw 6-foot-8 I thought … it must be a lie."

According to Igor's brother, Loic, players often fabricated their height on registration forms.

"We've always gotten emails from kids saying 'I'm 6-foot-4' and then we see the kid, he's 5-foot-11," said Loic. "So when Igor got the email that the kid's 6-foot-8, we didn't take it seriously."

Boucher never got a response.

In early July, Boucher's friends told him about an upcoming basketball tournament that required a team fee in order to participate.

"I said, 'I don't have money like that, but if you all want me on the team, I'll go,'" said Boucher.

Fortunately, he played.

The discovery of CJ Slick

Loic was in the crowd at the Little Burgundy Sports Centre the day Boucher played. He was trying to recruit kids to come to his private high school, College Durocher Saint-Lambert.

He was supposed to go home after the game he was watching had finished. There was no reason to stay for the men's game that was to come. The players were too old to for him to recruit.

But still, the impending matchup intrigued him.

I think I found someone special … a gem. This kid is not normal.– Loic Rwigema

On one side of the court was Brookwood Elite, one of the premiere basketball programs in Quebec. The other team looked a tad different.

"It was like 10 boys playing against an organized team. I thought, 'This is going to be interesting', because they didn't have a coach. I was intrigued to see how it was going to play out," said Loic.