Canadian men's and women's teams have sights set on medals at Paris Olympics

There’s an immense amount of pride in the heights Canadian basketball has reached entering the Olympics, both on the men’s and women’s sides.

The Paris Games will see both Canadian basketball teams compete together for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The men’s team, ranked seventh globally, returns after a 24-year hiatus, while the fifth-ranked women’s team continues its streak with a fourth straight Olympic appearance.

“We recognize the commitment of these players,” said Canadian men's team general manager Rowan Barrett, who played for the 2000 Olympic men’s team and whose son, RJ Barrett of the Toronto Raptors, is a starter on this year's squad. “We recognize your sacrifice, your selflessness, the grit, the toughness and the steely, steely nerve that we showed especially last summer — it is commendable, it’s exemplary.

“We are beaming with pride, watching our countrymen go out there and give it all on the floor for their country.”

“There’s tremendous pride,” Canadian women’s GM Denise Dignard said. “Tremendous, tremendous pride in our athletes, our staff. To be able to be in four consecutive Olympics, and now to really drive toward the next step in our program is heartwarming.”

The men’s side has made a major turn since missing the Tokyo Games 2021.

Canada Basketball got three-year commitments out of 14 players in 2022 — many of them NBA players — and cruised through the competition to enter the FIBA World Cup. It was there that Canada qualified for the Olympics and also defeated the United States for its first-ever World Cup medal with a bronze.

The result also bumped Canada from 15th to sixth in the world at the time, and with that, a new light was shed on the team.

“It gave us a lot of confidence,” said forward Dillon Brooks, who plays for the Houston Rockets. “Guys that have been plugged in (for the Olympics) have the same confidence.

“It just puts a whole different light on us but we’re ready for it and not to fall into and just every game, every day, one step at a time.”

Canada now stands among the favourites to reach the podium in Paris, a significant shift from past expectations, given its lone Olympic medal — a silver at the 1936 Games. Hopes are bolstered by a roster that includes 11 of 12 players who are current or former NBA players, including Denver Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray, who opted out of last year's World Cup.

However, as Oklahoma City Thunder guard and NBA MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts it, the team doesn't care about external expectations.

“We don’t really worry about the expectations,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We know who’s in the gym, we know that doesn’t get us anything.

“We gotta work for it, we gotta earn it, and that’s what we’re focused on, earning it.”

The women’s team, meanwhile, is looking to do something it hasn’t ever done in seven previous appearances at the Olympics — medal.

However, with a team that bears a wealth of experience and young talent, especially at the forward spot, they could be primed to do so.

Canada, which has five WNBA players on its roster, qualified for the Games back in February at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Hungary. Canada went 1-2 but was helped out by fourth-ranked Spain defeating host Hungary 73-72 in the final game of the tournament.

Canada has often missed different key players in FIBA competitions — including February’s Olympic qualifier — due to professional or school commitments, or injury. However, that won't be the case in Paris.

“I’ve never had a roster to compete at this level with the 12 players,” head coach Victor Lapena said. “Always some of them was a lower level or very young. This time, if everything is like I dream in my mind, we’ll have 12 players with a positivity to compete on the court.”

“When Canada plays with this energy, we are a difficult team to beat. Very, very difficult.”

Coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2022 World Cup, the goal is to take the next step onto the podium in Paris.

“Our ultimate goal is the podium,” said guard Shay Colley, who plays professionally in France. “And with that, you have to be diligent and focused in everything we do leading up to get to that podium.”

However, Lapena would like to ease the pressure of going for a medal on his team.

“I remember in the last two Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, everybody in the world was expecting Canada would be on the podium or fighting for medals,” he said. “I want to reduce all of this pressure just to say that we’ll do our best, we have a group of athletes that always compete and our focus is just … one step at a time. … I don’t feel the pressure.

“I don’t transfer the pressure to the players. Everybody knows the most important part is our journey.”

— With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024.