Paris 2024 basketball: Why Canada's Olympic team will be the strongest yet
The men's basketball tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is set to be one of the most competitive in history—if not the most competitive.
The select group of teams favoured for gold include reigning 16-time champions USA, Tokyo 2020 silver medallists and hosts France, FIBA World Cup 2023 champions Germany, and, perhaps most intriguingly, Canada.
At first glance, Canada's results at the Olympic Games—a solitary silver medal in 1936, with their last appearance coming at Sydney 2000, when they finished 7th—would lead one to question why they should be included as a gold medal-favourite in Paris this summer. But their performance at the FIBA World Cup last year (winning bronze) has completely changed the perception of—and the expectations for—Canada at Paris 2024. And thanks to the current squad, which is replete with elite NBA talent, Team Canada is ready for the challenge.
Team Canada celebrates after winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 3rd Place game between USA and Canada at Mall of Asia Arena on September 10, 2023 in Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Canada's key numbers
World Ranking: 7th
Olympic Games
- Appearances: 9
- Medals: Silver (1936)
FIBA World Cup
- Appearances: 15
- Medals: Bronze (2023)
FIBA AmeriCup
- Appearances: 19
- Medals: Silver (1980, 1999), Bronze (1984, 1988, 2001, 2015)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads a new era of Canadian basketball
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was just two years old the last time Canada competed at the Olympic Games in basketball, when a squad led by two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash finished seventh at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
It's fair to say that the roster assembled around Nash for the competition in Australia pales in comparison to the one that won bronze at the World Cup and will likely be present for Paris 2024. Outside of Nash, only one player on the 2000 team - center Todd MacCulloch - was playing in the NBA, with the rest of the 10-man group competing at the club level across Europe and South America.
In the two decades since Sydney 2000, Canada failed to qualify for any of the five Olympic tournaments held and only managed two appearances at the FIBA World Cup (finishing 22nd and 21st at the 2010 and 2019 editions, respectively).
But in 2023, the message surrounding Canada changed, and in spectacular fashion.
When Canada Basketball announced the final roster for the World Cup in August of that year, seven players on the 12-man squad were on NBA teams—the most of any team aside from Australia and the USA. The standout name from this deeply talented group is undoubtedly Gilgeous-Alexander. Over the past two seasons, the 25-year-old native of Toronto has established himself as one of the premiere talents in the NBA, as evidenced by his first All-Star and All-NBA First Team selections in 2023 (when he finished fourth in the league in scoring with 31.4 points per game). At the World Cup, he led Canada on a historic run which included wins over Tokyo 2020 silver medallists France, two-time World Cup winners Spain, and reigning Olympic champions USA in the bronze medal game (notching a double-double with 31 points and 12 assists in the process).
The bronze was Canada's first medal in World Cup history, and their progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament secured a berth at Paris 2024.
"We're a part of history," Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters after Canada's 88-85 win over Spain. "It's something that's almost indescribable... So many people along the way have put in so much work for this program and having the opportunity to do so, we want to thank them and also represent them when we go, and in the rest of this tournament [as well]."
As of writing, the 1.98m (6 ft 6) guard is leading the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semi-finals in the NBA playoffs, where they currently hold a 1-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks. Gilgeous-Alexander's postseason form has carried over from his excellent 2023-24 campaign, where he averaged 30.1 points and 2.0 steals per game, earning his second All-Star nod and cementing himself as a finalist for the league MVP award.
In short: Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player Canada has produced since Steve Nash. And he's got backup, too.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on fire in World Cup opener
R.J. Barrett, Lu Dort, and Dillon Brooks highlight Canada's depth
Gilgeous-Alexander may get most of the plaudits, but he is not the sole party responsible for guiding Canada back to the Olympics (and climbing the world rankings to 7).
For starters, his Thunder teammate Lu Dort has developed a reputation as an elite defensive force in the NBA, responsible for guarding the opposing team's best player(s) on any given night. In the aforementioned Game 1 against the Mavericks, Dort held All-Star Luka Doncic to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting, snapping his streak of 24 consecutive playoff games with at least 20 points.
Then there's R.J. Barrett, a 1.98m (6 ft 6) forward who holds career averages of 20.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and was the FIBA Under-19 World Cup MVP in 2017.
Dillon Brooks, like Dort, is known for his defensive skills; the Houston Rockets forward earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honours in 2023, and was named the Best Defensive Player at the 2023 World Cup.
Anthony Edwards #10 of the United States controls the ball against Dillon Brooks #24 of Canada (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images).
Other NBA talent that Team Canada relied upon during the World Cup—and could call upon again for the Olympics—includes Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dwight Powell of the Dallas Mavericks (both of whom are currently competing in the NBA playoffs), and Kelly Olynk of the Toronto Raptors.
These are the makings of an elite international team, but what makes Canada such an exciting prospect at Paris 2024 are the other players who could be part of the squad. 2023 NBA champion Jamal Murray, for example, was due to compete in the Philippines last year but withdrew in August, citing a need for more recovery time following the Denver Nuggets' run to the title in June. Andrew Wiggins, an NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors in 2022, is another big name, while Shaedon Sharpe (Portland Trail Blazers), Brandon Clarke (Memphis Grizzlies), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Trey Lyles (Sacramento Kings) and Cory Joseph (Golden State Warriors) either bring veteran winning experience or youthful potential. 2.24m (7ft 4) Zach Edey, who represented Canada at the World Cup and was named the National Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024, will likely be a top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft in June.
All of a sudden, deciding who will make the 12-man Canadian team for the Olympics is set to be an arduous task—something that couldn't be said about this program for a long time.
But in 2024, the message is clear: Team Canada isn't going to the Games to make up the numbers.
They're going for gold.