While the Toronto Raptors continue to endear themselves with basketball fans in Canada and the United States with their Eastern Conference leading performance, the same can’t be said for actor turned pseudo hip-hop sensation Drake.

On Wednesday night, fans at the Air Canada Centre along with viewers on ESPN and Canadian sports broadcaster TSN were forced to sit through Drake Night Part II.

On the floor we were treated to a gutsy, high-gear performance by the Raptors who easily dispatched of the Brooklyn Nets, 105-89, but the promotion by Drake and the Raptors is becoming a little too much for real basketball fans to stomach.

Sure it was entertaining to see Drake do the opening lineups where he introduced Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas as “Big Science,” label shooting guard Kyle Lowry “the baby faced assassin” and make fun of Amir Johnson’s new tattoo calling it the “Swiffer Wet Jet,” but after that initial hip feeling Drake Night Part II began to feel a little too much like corporate overkill.

For those who missed it, here is video of Drake introducing the Raptors’ starting lineup:

When the Raptors signed Drake as their global ambassador in August 2013, to some, it seemed like a clever move at the time. Chairman of the club’s ownership group Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment lauded the signing declaring:  “My cool status just went up,” Tannenbaum declared. During Tuesday’s TSN broadcast, Drake joked around with the broadcast crew and then announced he was looking forward to sitting in his court-side seats for Sunday’s clash against the New York Knicks.

But then, as it has been with Drake and the Raptors lately, “the cool factor” that some had described started to turn sour.

Sure Drake has lived up to his ambassador obligations and had an overwhelming presence with the team, lending a hand with charity functions and promoting the Raptors and the NBA at his concerts.

But as promotional stunts usually do, what initially seemed like a brilliant PR move is gradually turning into a flop.

In August Drake also stepped out of bounds in his role. The Raptors were fined $25,000 by the NBA for tampering after Drake made a pitch for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant to sign with Toronto when he becomes a free agent in 2016.  Afterwards rumors surfaced that the NBA had also asked the team to fire Drake, a charge the league and the Raptors flatly denied.

While he might be a hit with the younger crowd, if you are in your 30s or 40s or older, the cool funky-fresh, def factor with Drake isn’t convincing enough.

For a certain generation who grew up listening to hip-hop masters like Grand Master Flash, Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy and Biz Markie, corporate mass-produced hip-hop artists like Drake just aren’t the real.

To those who really know about the hip-hop and basketball relationship – or both – the Drake Raptors promotion appears to be what Chuck D of Public Enemy would describe as corporate bum-rush. If you are too young or too uncool to know a bum-rush, it is defined by most urban dictionaries — and the ancients — as as a forceful attempt to rush the stage and overpower the man on the microphone or emcee.

Now basketball fans are just wondering when all the sideshows and distractions will end and they can get back to the action on the court.

Peter Mallett is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RedCardTheRef1 like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.