BY JONATHAN REYNOSO
With the men's team's loss to France in the quarter-final, Canada's basketball tenure at the summer 2024 Paris Olympics came to an end. The games wrapped up as an up-and-down affair for Canada Basketball, with seemingly more downs than ups, but it showed it is undeniably a time of growth for the sport in Canada.
Let's first look at how the men's 5v5 side fared at the 2024 Olympics.
After going 3-0 in what was touted as the toughest group stage—the “group of death” to some—with fierce battles against Greece, Australia and Spain, Canada set themselves up as front-runners going into the elimination rounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for Team Canada. Along with multiple 20+ point efforts, including a 27-point effort against France, Shai constantly brought a sense of calm to the team while simultaneously producing in clutch moments. He was and will continue to be Canada's main guy moving forward, and his performance at the Paris Olympics proved that.
Seeing RJ Barrett thrive in these Paris games was also a welcome sight. He was Canada's second-leading scorer, averaging 19.75 points per contest. The FIBA-style game perfectly complements Barrett's playstyle, where he flourishes with the extra physicality of international play. For RJ, his performance at the 2024 Olympics might give us some good insight into how his upcoming season with the Toronto Raptors will go, as he looks to show he is a force to be reckoned with in the NBA.
However, for their quarter-final, the red-and-white drew a formidable opponent and the hometown team, France, who were supposed to be a deadly matchup for the Canadians.
For years, Canada's frontcourt has been an issue, with not only a lack of talent at the 4 and 5 but, most evidently, a lack of size.
Even though Canada's bigs in Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell and Khem Birch gave a valiant effort in trying to limit Frances's front court of Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Guerschon Yabusele, and Mathias Lessort, France’s size was just too much to handle for a Canadian team who primarily run small-ball lineups.
Looking forward to the Men's programme, Canada should look to develop and add some much-needed help at the 4 and 5 spots.
Elsewhere, in a transitional phase for the Canadian Women 5v5 roster, it was a rough showing for the women in the 2024 Paris Olympics, going 0-3 in their group stage.
With a mixed bag of veteran players like Kia Nurse and Natalie Achonwa and young guns Aaliyah Edwards, Syla Swords and Cassandre Prosper as key pieces, this rendition of the Canadian women's team spanned several generations.
Fans can look at this team as going through a transition of power, where next time around, it’s possible we won't see as many of the veterans that helped build this program from the ground up.
Nevertheless, with more and more Canadian talent in the WNBA and NCAA—or in high school, in the case of Swords—, and signs of that talent on this roster, the future looks bright for the Canadian women's team.
The best result in Paris came from 3v3 basketball on the women's side, where the Canadian team’s strong showing came to an unfortunate end with a two-point loss to the USA in the bronze medal game. With dominant showings against China and Australia, the 3v3 women's team looks forward to LA 2028 with hopes to finally medal.
Canada's results—a combined 8-9 record and no medals for the three teams—do not defer from the fact that the future looks bright for Canada Basketball.
Optimism for the program's future and the impact on basketball culture in Canada still lies. Even though Canada is still mainly a hockey-centric country, you can see the rise in the popularity of basketball across the nation.
The increase in popularity can be attributed to numerous factors. You can look at this Olympics to start, where you see more and more elite Canadian-born players competing for medals on the world's biggest stage. In the past, this has been a problem for Canadian men's basketball more so than for the women's side.
Especially in the past 10 years, it has been a struggle to get some of Canada's biggest names to commit to the national team. This was detrimental to the results of the men's team and cast the image that Canadian players do not want to commit to the National programme. Now, Canada’s teams reflect the country’s pride in its basketball.
Starting about three years ago, on the Men's side, Team Canada put forward a commitment program where players who intended to play for Team Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics would be required to engage in team activities three years before the Olympic games.
Not only did this help build continuity within the basketball group, but it obligated Canadian talent to commit fully to playing for their country, barring any setbacks. We saw this in full force during the Paris games, with Canada's men's team bringing their most talented roster ever to the Olympic games. This is an encouraging sign for Canball and basketball in Canada.
The rise in the popularity of basketball in Canada can also be attributed to the Canada Elite Basketball League (CEBL). This Canadian league has brought local teams to smaller communities in Canada, with each team having engagement outreaches to every one of their fan bases. These efforts are conveyed through community events that each team hosts throughout the year. This benefits each team's local communities and allows more and more youth to be educated about the possibilities within the basketball world.
Finally, with basketball growing in Canada, it was only a matter of time before the WNBA made its way up north. It was a long time coming, but on May 10, 2024, it became official that the WNBA was heading to Toronto. Shireen Ahmed on X: "***BREAKING NEWS*** WNBA in The Six is official. Larry Tannenbaum's Kilmer Sports Inc has finalized the deal. What a time for women's sports in Canada! https://t.co/g5VoesPyy1" / X
In such a male-dominated sport, it is refreshing to continue to see women being highlighted and taking the spotlight for all their impact on the sport of basketball in Canada and worldwide.
With the rapid increase in popularity of the WNBA, this news couldn't have come at a better time. Women's basketball and basketball as a whole in Canada is growing quickly.
By nurturing the game and spreading its outreach, the sky is the limit for what can come from basketball in Canada. The passion for the game manifests itself here; it is only a matter of time before the world fully sees it.
The men’s game is already touted to make Canada a contender, and the women are not far behind. What’s next is still up in the air, but Canada is positioning itself well to be a basketball juggernaut by the time the 2028 Olympics take over Los Angeles.
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