Sudbury basketball legacy continues in Paris

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These past few weeks leading up to Paris have been filled with complex emotions, a lot of gratitude and pride in our Nation and the City of Sudbury.

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Rowan Barrett, Canada Basketball’s president, did an incredible thing: he reached out to Howard Kelsey and I (Howard and I, along with Misty Thomas founded the National Basketball Teams Alumni Association — www.nbtaa.com) to say it was time to bring the alumni in, to connect our newest Olympians with those of us that had “been there.”

He was hoping we could share what it meant to us to be in that smallest of Canadian basketball clubs, what it meant to our families, our communities and our lives post-basketball. He rightly recognized that basketball in Canada is a national community effort, a community whose culture had to come together from every city and corner within our nation to support our men and women who carry us all forward into Paris.

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Rowan was spot on when he told me “it was our time” and he wanted to be sure past Olympians got the opportunity to meet these incredible young people, see our very best at work preparing to compete and to pass on any wisdom that could positively impact our now shared path to Gold. Though never nominated to do so, I can say for every single one of us that it was an honour to be involved, so honoured that out of a total of 49 Olympians who could physically attend, 42 travelled to Toronto on almost no notice.

Howard Kelsey and I received the call from Rowan only about a week in advance, but Howard immediately mobilized, calling and emailing every living Olympian personally to ensure they attended what was clearly going to be a historic event.

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Equally incredible was the support, the operational lift provided by Kayla Minott and Joey Leung of Canada Basketball. They handled flights, hotels and all of the logistics necessary to make everyone feel welcome and even more, both were incredibly professional. Howard, Kayla and Joey pulled it all off, made it look easy and for many of us, it just couldn’t have been better. Big thanks to all three of them and the rest of Canada Basketball’s staff who made it all possible.  

As you might imagine, for me, Sudbury is always front and centre and many of my greatest memories are wrapped tightly in the bow that was Eli Pasquale. Every one of these reunions inevitably broaches the subject that Eli and I grew up in Sudbury, attended the same high school, Lockerby Composite, and were teammates on the national team for over a decade.

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Memories of Eli remain enshrouded in real moments of loss and lingering disbelief percolating to the surface, making this otherwise joyful event bittersweet. Even so, no one would have been more proud of our newest Olympians than Eli and our collective pride was bursting for our Canadian Basketball community, our families. 

Watching practice and preparations in Toronto, then, Canada versus USA in the Las Vegas USA Basketball Showcase (sitting about five feet down our row from Barack Obama, I could only wonder where Justin Trudeau was) revealed that our first gold medal in basketball could materialize in Paris. Most looked at the final score, but didn’t pay close attention. Canada has a great team our best team ever — period. 

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As our men and women march off to Paris, A particular source of pride for all Sudburians should be that my oft-repeated claim that Sudbury disproportionately impacts Canadian Basketball continues to manifest itself in our latest Olympian, Syla Swords! I urge every single Sudburian — no, demand that every single Sudburian follow Syla through these Olympics to support her and our women’s national team as they chase Gold for Canada. Repping the 705 lies with her this time and I have watched her play — she can flat out ball.

Adding even more history being made here, Canada Basketball, Syla and Shawn Swords are Canada’s first father-daughter Olympians. Shawn continues to coach for Canada after playing with my other teammate, Steve Nash, in the 2000 Olympics. Shawn and Syla continue to make us all proud and I know our Sudbury’s hoops legacy will continue to thrive!

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As much as I enjoy sharing my past, my love of the game and experiences created by or shared with Sudbury greats like Eli and Carol Hamilton, nothing beats being a part of and supporting the Olympic journey for someone like Syla. The next month or so is going to be a crazy roller-coaster for her, our nation, our basketball community — let’s all get behind her as she brings the 705 to Paris.

This is the latest in a series of columns by Sudbury native and Olympian David Turcotte which will focus on the paths followed by basketball players to the world stage, while also highlighting some of the finest talent the region has produced.

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