Toronto Raptors announcer Matt Devlin annoys rapper Wale: ‘He’s not Drake’ (VIDEO)

If rapper Wale was not known in Canada before, he is now. The best part of Tuesday's Toronto Raptors road win over the Washington Wizards was a run-in that played out over on the court, on the air and over Twitter involving Raps small forward Rudy Gay, Wale and Toronto play-by-play man Matt Devlin.

After Gay canned a basket in the second quarter of Toronto's 96-88 win, the Raptors star playful made a 'call me' gesture to Wale. They had been chatting back and forth for a few minutes; ballers having a running conversation with courtside fans goes back decades in basketball, it's an intimate game that way. Part of a broadcaster's job is to tell viewers about what they cannot see. Devlin's description of Wale cut a bit close.

"Supposedly this fan is a well-known local rapper Wale — locally here," Delvin said before adding, "I'm sure somebody on Twitter could tell me exactly if they've ever heard of Wale — he's not Drake."

Not Drake? That's cold. Devlin's words must have got back to Wale.

The performer, who won a Soul Train Award in 2010 and has 2.7 million Twitter followers, later visited the broadcast table during the second half.

Some benefit of the doubt is owed to Wale. Both he and Rudy Gay are from the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area. This is not on par with the Reggie Miller-Spike Lee feud during the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks playoff battles in the mid-1990s in either tone or the stakes, although the Raptors are climbing closer to the playoff picture. Wale is maintaining the dialogue with Gay was friendly.

In any event, it was hilarious. Makes you wonder where hip-hip would have gone if smartphones had come along 20 years sooner. Miss you, Tupac.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (video: Sportsnet).