Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray headline Canada Basketball’s Olympic training camp roster

Canada Basketball has revealed the 20 training camp invitees who will assemble in Toronto next week, vying for roster spots before the country’s first appearance in a men’s Olympic basketball tournament in 24 years.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins are among the 20 players who will compete for spots on Canada’s 12-man roster for next month’s Paris Games.

Last summer a senior men’s team heavy on NBA talent qualified for the Olympics at the FIBA World Cup in Manila, Philippines, where it defeated the U.S to earn bronze – Canada’s first World Cup medal.

The camp roster includes all the members of last year’s team, which starred Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Luguentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dwight Powell.

There will be a dozen NBA players at camp. That includes Murray, the Denver Nuggets star. Canada Basketball says he’s healthy after a long NBA season. Murray hasn’t suited up for Canada since 2015 but has attended Canada training camps the past two summers.

Other NBA players are Trey Lyles, Andrew Nembhard, and Oshae Brissett.

Fresh off a second consecutive outstanding college season, Zach Edey hopes to be in camp, despite the fact he’s days away from being drafted into the NBA. Rowan Barrett, general manager and executive vice-president of the senior men’s program, said as soon as they see which NBA team selects Edey, they will call and discuss whether that club will allow him to be with Team Canada.

“I believe that our program is in a strong place,” Barrett said. “We are ready, and we will be taking on all-comers. We are going to this competition in Paris to win.”

Seven Canadians who have been a part of Canada’s success in the past were invited from overseas clubs: Kyle Alexander, Trae Bell-Haynes, Khem Birch, Melvin Ejim, Mfiondu Kabengele, Phil Scrubb and Thomas Scrubb.

In 2022, Canada Basketball got a commitment from 14 players who promised to represent Canada when needed between then and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After all, there were times over the years when it was tough to convince NBA players to commit time during their summers to play for Canada. Two players who made that ‘summer core’ commitment are not invited to this camp: Kevin Pangos and Cory Joseph.

Wiggins is a notable player who did not commit to being in the summer core back in 2022. The 2022 all-star and NBA champion tried to help Canada qualify for the Rio and Tokyo Games – but the team fell short at qualifiers in Mexico City in 2015 and again at home in Victoria in 2021. Wiggins hasn’t been part of Canada’s program during the current Olympic cycle, but he’s parachuting in now.

“Every time he’s been within our walls, he played tremendous basketball. I wouldn’t think that this moment could be any different,” Barrett said. “A healthy, strong Andrew Wiggins is a very, very good player.”

NBA veteran Tristan Thompson was another notable player left off the camp roster.

Canadian youngsters Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe will also attend training camp to gain experience with the senior men’s team with an eye on the future but won’t compete for roster spots this summer.

Following training camp in Toronto, Canada will head to Las Vegas, where it will face the U.S. in an exhibition game at T-Mobile Arena on July 10.

At the Olympics, group play begins on July 27. Canada will be in Group A with Australia, plus the two winners of upcoming qualifying tournaments in Greece and Spain.

Canada has appeared in nine Olympic men’s basketball tournaments. Its only medal was a silver medal from the 1936 Games in Berlin. The last appearance came at the 2000 Games in Sydney, where a squad led by two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash placed seventh.

Nash was one of two NBA players on that 2000 team (the other was centre Todd MacCulloch). The rest played at clubs in Europe and South America, including Rowan Barrett.

Fast-forward to today, and Canada has for 10 consecutive years been the most-represented country in the NBA outside of the U.S. During the 2023-24 season, there were 26 Canadian players in the league.

Nations favoured for the podium include Team USA, the reigning 16-time Olympic gold medalists, Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and the host, France, the 2023 FIBA World Cup champions from Germany, and Canada.

Canada will send three basketball teams to Paris – the men’s team, the women’s team, plus its first ever women’s 3×3 team.