Despite being home to some of the NBA’s best players, Canada Basketball hasn’t made an appearance in the Olympics in nearly a quarter-century, when it finished seventh in the Sydney Games in 2000.
Rowan Barrett, the general manager of the Canadian men’s national team and father to Toronto Raptors guard R.J. Barrett, was on the country’s last Olympic squad that featured just two players who would go on to the NBA. Canada’s best finish in basketball has been fourth, twice: in Montreal in 1976 and in Los Angeles in 1984. It isn’t a rich history, but with Barrett at the helm and a roster of 11 NBA players — including Gonzaga standouts Kelly Olynyk and Andrew Nembhard — expectations are that the Canadians can give Team USA its stiffest competition and make a real push for gold at the Paris Games.
Olynyk, who was voted Team Canada’s co-captain, helped take down the Americans in the bronze medal game of the FIBA World Cup last summer in Manila. Eight players return from that group, including All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and R.J Barrett, while NBA champion Jamal Murray rejoins the ranks as well. Dillon Brooks, who dropped 39 points in the U.S. last summer, spearheads the group on the defensive end.
Team USA — now featuring future hall-of-famers LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant along with a slew of All-NBA players — got the Canadians back in an 86-72 exhibition victory in Las Vegas earlier this month. Since then though Team Canada heads into Olympic competition having won its last two tune-up games over Victor Wembanyama-led France and a frisky Puerto Rico squad as of late. Canada’s Gonzaga duo combined for 24 points in the emphatic 85-73 win over the French while Wembanyama was held to 10 points due to early foul trouble.
The Canadians ride that momentum into what might be considered the most competitive group in Olympic basketball history. Dubbed the “Group of Death,” Group A will see Australia, Greece, Spain and Canada contend for the top two spots in the standings.
Here’s a look at Team Canada’s Olympic schedule (all times in Pacific Standard Time):
– Noon, July 27 vs. Greece (Pierre Mauroy Stadium)
– 4:30 a.m., July 30 vs. Australia (Pierre Mauroy Stadium)
– 8:15 a.m., Aug. 2 vs. Spain (Pierre Mauroy Stadium)
GREECE
Like Team Canada, Greece doesn’t boast a tremendous basketball resume in the Olympics. It hasn’t finished better than fifth in its four appearances since 1936. But behind one of the sport’s most dominant players, there’s reason to think the Paris Games might be different.
Led by two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greeks snapped their 16-year Olympic basketball drought with four consecutive victories in the FIBA qualifying tournament earlier this month in Piraeus, Greece, including an eye-opening 96-68 win over Luka Doncic and Slovenia. While Antetokounmpo dominated the interior with 22.7 points per game, his teammates lit it up from outside the arc as Greece made 13.5 3-pointers per game and shot 43.5% on attempts from deep. Veteran point guard Nick Calathes set the table with 10.5 assists per game.
Calathes, who played two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2013-15, missed Greece’s first tune-up against Puerto Rico but is expected to be on the court for Olympic competition. The Greeks rode their momentum into a highly-anticipated friendly against Nikola Jokic and Serbia, though the three-time MVP with the Denver Nuggets was too much in a 94-72 final in what was Vassilis Spanoulis’ first loss as head coach of Greece’s national team.
The 22-point defeat revealed that outside of Antetokounmpo, the Greeks don’t have much size upfront to hang with the rest of the world’s best teams. A lot will have to go right for Greece to get out of Group A.
AUSTRALIA
The Aussies proved throughout their exhibition games that they’ll be a force to reckon with once again on the international stage, as veteran guard Patty Mills has found his FIBA form alongside a handful of NBA players including Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels Josh Green and Danté Exum.
Mills, a Saint Mary’s standout who’s played 892 games in his NBA career, led the Boomers to big exhibition wins over Serbia and France following a narrow loss to the Americans in Abu Dhabi. The 36-year-old scored a combined 52 points in the two victories, both of which were by double-digit margins.
Giddey and Exum have found ways to score as well, though turnovers were an issue between the two in the tune-up games. Outside shooting as a whole, besides Mills, wasn’t a strong point either.
Since it earned its first medal in the 2021 Tokyo Games, Australia was eliminated ahead of the World Cup knockout rounds last summer and returned eight players from the team that finished the tournament in 10th place. Perhaps continuity will be on the Boomers’ side in Group A play.
SPAIN
Spain is ranked second in the FIBA world rankings despite failing to reach the knockout stage in last summer’s World Cup, which is likely more indicative of what to expect from the Spaniards in Paris.
Spain bounced back from a ninth-place finish at the World Cup with four consecutive wins in the qualifying tournament, as Willy Hernangomez led the way with 18.3 points per game in victories over Lebanon, Angola, Finland and the Bahamas. Not exactly the toughest path to Paris, where Spain will have to handle the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander, Antetokounmpo and the Aussies in group play.
Spain doesn’t boast the same level of talent it did when it won silver medals in 2008 and 2012, as Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba are the only current NBA players on the roster while Rudy Fernandez (39) and Sergio Llull (36) are past their respective primes. While experienced for sure, the Spaniards have an uphill climb awaiting them in Paris.