Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI just got hooked, man,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a member of two clubs in Baton Rouge: the University Club of Baton Rouge \u2014 the home course for the LSU Tigers \u2014 and the Country Club of Louisiana, established in 1896, and which is close to his off-season home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I play as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is how Temple found himself rolling up to the first tee at TPC Boston last Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on a cold, damp, blustery afternoon when most found something warmer to do indoors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the NBA schedule isn\u2019t all that golf-friendly, so Temple was undeterred. The tee-sheet was empty, the course was wide open, his work responsibilities were taken care of, so off he went, walking with a pull cart, braving the chill, as happy as his 10-year-old self was chasing daylight around Historic City Park, the 9-hole public course in his neighbourhood he grew up playing.<\/p>\n
During the season, he only gets to play so much. He and Jamison Battle \u2014 along with assistant equipment manager Nick Mann \u2014 tipped it up in Denver on a recent road trip. They got in a game in Los Angeles and played a couple of times during training camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Phoenix last month, the hotel the team stayed at had a golf course on the property. With the trip overlapping with spring break, some players and coaches had their families with them. Temple was able to take his five-year-old son out on the course with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m getting him into it. He enjoys it. He enjoys it, man,\u201d said Temple. \u201cHe’s five, and he has his own little set of clubs. He asked me, \u2018Why do you have more clubs that me?\u2019 All he has is a driver, a nine-iron and a putter, you know? But he’s interested.\u201d<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t lack for opportunities. \u201cI got a simulator in my house in Baton Rouge,\u201d said Temple, the setup facilitated by former Raptor, current Sixer and fellow golf nut, Kyle Lowry. \u201cMan, shout out to Kyle Lowry. Got me a discount. Canadian company HD Golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Temple shot in the 80s regularly in high school and college. The unpredictability of NBA life \u2014 he\u2019s played on 12 teams in 17 seasons \u2014 interrupted some of those rhythms. Getting married and starting a family \u2014 he now has three children with his wife, Kara \u2014 has added a layer of complication.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Temple was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, he bought a house adjacent to TPC Southwind, which hosts a PGA Tour event annually, only to get traded in February of that year before ever getting to play it. But he did get to tip it up there while the Raptors were in Memphis at the end of last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His best golf came during the pandemic when he played daily as a member of the Brooklyn Nets while the league was gathered in Orlando for the resumption of the 2019-20 season in the “NBA bubble.” He got himself down to a nine handicap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His next goal is to participate in the American Century Championships, the event where big names from sports and entertainment compete at Lake Tahoe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Is his game ready? \u201cIf Kyle’s game is ready, mine is ready. If Zach LaVine\u2019s game is ready, mine is ready. If Vince [Carter\u2019s] game is ready \u2014 those are all guys I\u2019ve played with a beat at times. If they can play it, I can,\u201d said Temple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like any athlete, he loves the competitive fix he gets from golf, and the unsolvable nature of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s amazing, man,\u201d he said. \u201cI love golf because you can’t ever master it. And it\u2019s a game that you play until you’re 78 years old. So I can play with my son, my grandson, my great-grandson, someday, my daughters. It\u2019s set up for people of all levels to play, you\u2019re in nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI could go on all day about golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he was one regret after 17 years in the NBA is that he\u2019s never been able to attend the Masters, and most of the time he can\u2019t even watch the final round because he\u2019s working, as he will be Sunday when the Raptors host the Brooklyn Nets in their season finale at 6 p.m ET (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The exception was last season when he caught Rory McIlroy\u2019s dramatic final round because he had to leave the Raptors’ last game of the season in San Antonio with a sprained knee. It was a welcome distraction as he was hobbling on crutches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the day off on Saturday, he toyed with the idea of zipping down to Augusta to experience one of golf\u2019s cathedrals in person. \u201cI know a guy,\u201d he said when asked about how he planned to get such a hot ticket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But realistically, he\u2019ll spend the day like so many other golf nuts: taking care of some errands in the morning \u2014 he\u2019s got a haircut booked with his son \u2014 and the rest of Saturday will be spent listening to the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz and watching on CBS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good way to spend an off day. And there will likely be a year sooner than later that Temple will be able to take in the tournament in person. Retirement will mean he\u2019ll have the Masters week free for the first time since he turned professional in 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Temple turns 40 next month, and while he remains fit and enthusiastic as ever, he understands his role as the Raptors’ designated veteran can\u2019t last indefinitely, not as the team improves and the crunch for roster spots gets tighter and the current group gets further along in their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m 17 years in, I\u2019m definitely thinking about [retirement],\u201d said Temple when we spoke in Memphis a week ago Friday. \u201cNow, if I’m thinking about it, doing it this year or next year or the year after, who knows. But it’s definitely on my radar. I’m closer to retirement than the beginning of my career, that’s for sure. So, you know, we’ll see what happens. But I’m cherishing this time for sure. It went by fast, and the rest, whether it\u2019s a year, two years or whatever, it will go by faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe that trip down to Augusta can wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the tumult that comes with the final days of the NBA season, there is always one reliable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-708239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-raptors","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-raptors","13":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116386629457752626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Garrett](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_2030.jpg\")
Garrett Temple and Kyle Lowry golf in the bubble during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy Garrett Temple)<\/p>\n![\"NBA](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Toronto-Raptors-Scottie-Barnes-640x360.jpg\")
NBA on Sportsnet<\/p>\n