Olympic basketball Canada men squad included a record 11 NBA players

Olympic basketball : Olympic basketball The roster also features Khem Birch and Melvin Ejim, who both play professionally in Spain.

Canada will shatter Nigeria’s record for the most NBA players on a non-American Olympic team, which was set in Tokyo with eight.

The roster does not include two well-known Canadians.On July 27, Canada will meet Greece, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, in Lille as part of the Paris Olympics.

Andrew Wiggins, a 2022 NBA All-Star for the Golden State Warriors, allegedly withdrew from consideration in a Warriors-related transaction.

Zach Edey, the NCAA Player of the Year at Purdue, elected to focus on his NBA rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies rather than pursuing an Olympic slot.

Canada last qualified for the Olympics in 2000, with two NBA players, eventual MVP Steve Nash and center Todd MacCulloch.

Last September, a Canadian team coached by Gilgeous-Alexander defeated the United States in the FIBA World Cup bronze medal game. It was Canada’s first international medal in men’s basketball since finishing second in the first Olympic basketball event in 1936.

Canada’s first Olympic men’s basketball squad since 2000 has eleven current NBA players, a record for a country other than the United States.

The club is led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an All-NBA First Team player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Jamal Murray, the point guard for the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

The other NBA players are Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Minnesota Timberwolves), R.J. Barrett (Toronto Raptors), Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), Luguentz Dort (Thunder), Trey Lyles (Sacramento Kings), Andrew Nembhard (Indiana Pacers), Kelly Olynyk (Raptors), and Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks).Olympic basketball