Canadian NBA stars embracing the flag
One of the constant, and constantly frustrating, things about the Canadian senior men’s basketball program every year has been trying to play a guessing game on who might show up. The commitments the team is seeking — or the withdrawals they are dreading — have often come days before the group was to get together before some qualification event.
That may be changing. A handful of high-profile players announced, unsolicited, this week that they will play for Canada in the final Olympic qualifier in Victoria next June.
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his cousin, New Orleans Pelicans guard Nickeil Walker-Alexander, said Tuesday they were all in for the six-team tournament to determine one final Tokyo Games berth. New York Knicks forward RJ Barrett followed suit Wednesday, saying “One hundred per cent I plan to play for my country this (coming) summer.”
Memphis swingman Dillon Brooks, Dallas forward Dwight Powell and Orlando forward Khem Birch have also said they will play.
It is welcome news for team management and it gives fans something to pin their hopes on, even if it is counter to what has been the norm. Canada had just two NBA players — Birch and Sacramento guard Cory Joseph — on its World Cup roster earlier this year. Whether it ultimately means anything remains to be seen.
It is wonderful that there are public commitments from key players this far out from the actual tournament, and it’s far better that they said they’re in rather than out. Kelly Olynyk, a steadfast supporter of the national team who made his senior debut at the 2010 world championships, knows that public pronouncements are important.
“It’s awesome,” Olynyk, the Miami Heat big man, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper. “I commend them on coming out and stepping forward and making the jump and starting things off. It’s huge for us, huge for basketball as a country. And we need them if we want to be the best we can be.”
Obviously, the Olympics — the carrot being dangled at the end of the qualification stick — are a factor. For better or worse, the Olympics outweigh the World Cup in these parts as the basketball event that everyone points to. There is something about being an Olympian, as opposed to being a member of a Canadian team, that means more.
“I feel like it’s the way to serve and give back to your country,” said Barrett, who knows a thing or two about being an Olympian from the experience his dad, Rowan, and godfather, Steve Nash, had in 2000.
“So many people, especially being a basketball player and in the NBA … give to me, give to us, every day. So for us to give back and try to make our country proud is one of the many reasons to do it.”
Who else plays is still in doubt, but it could be one of the greatest teams to represent Canada on a global stage, a team good enough to qualify for and perhaps make some noise at the Olympics.
There will be harsh realities that could hit home in the next seven months, as there always are. Olynyk, as constant presence as there has been for more than a decade, had stopped short of promising his participation. He missed September’s World Cup because of an injury he suffered in Canada’s first tune-up game. And he could be an NBA free agent in July; he has a player option for the 2020-21 season.
“It depends obviously on health and my option next year, in free agency,” he said. “But if I’m able to and I’m in that situation, I want to play. But I’ll have to see what the situation is first.”
The same holds true for a handful of other players. But having the likes of Murray sign on this early is refreshing. And an important sign to others who may be wondering who’ll be in camp if they decide to attend.