After months of speculation, Team Canada has officially announced its 12 man roster ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games this summer.
11 of the 12 players named to the team have NBA experience, as Canada boasts one of its deepest rosters ever. The nation is making its first appearance at the summer games since 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
2024 Official Roster:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Toronto, Ont.)
RJ Barrett (Mississauga, Ont.)
Khem Birch (Montreal, Que.)
Dillon Brooks (Mississauga, Ont.)
Luguentz Dort (Montreal, Que.)
Melvin Ejim (Toronto, Ont.)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Hamilton, Ont.)
Trey Lyles (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Jamal Murray (Kitchener, Ont.)
Andrew Nembhard (Aurora, Ont.)
Kelly Olynyk (Kamloops, B.C.)
Dwight Powell (Toronto, Ont.)
Headlined by NBA MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and NBA Champion Jamal Murray, the Canadian backcourt is in great hands. SGA is coming off his best season as a professional in which he averaged 30.1pts/5.5reb/6.2ast for the top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Shai was an instrumental contributor for Team Canada at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in which the Canucks earned a bronze medal victory over the American side to punch their ticket through to Paris.
The roster isn’t without controversy however. Former NBA Champion Andrew Wiggins, and reigning college player of the year Zach Edey were both left off the final roster due to issues outside of the Canadian program’s control.
Wiggins was essentially blocked from international participation by his current NBA club, the Golden State Warriors as his camp and the team’s front office are at an impasse regarding his future with the organization. Meanwhile, Edey opted to use the offseason to adjust to NBA life with his new club, the Memphis Grizzlies, after being selected 9th overall in the recent NBA Draft.
While few will fault the rookie for obliging his new team’s wishes, his size would have been a welcome addition to the Canadian front court, who will need to rely on the likes of Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, and Trey Lyles to slow down opposing bigs in the paint. The 7’4″ centre would have given the Canadian coaching staff a true big who could provide the team with some different looks on both ends of the floor.
Nevertheless, with defensive menaces like Lu Dort, and Dillon Brooks, the Canadian side won’t be short on “grit” when it comes to preventing buckets.
The 2024 Men’s basketball tournament kicks off on July 27th and will wrap up on August 11th.
Photo: Sandro Halank. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.