Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlines Canada’s preliminary roster for the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris that was officially announced on Wednesday and includes 20 players.
The team will be coached by the Brooklyn Nets new head coach Jordi Fernandez, and here is a look at the initial roster:
- Kyle Alexander (Hapoel Tel Aviv)
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Timberwolves)
- RJ Barrett (Raptors)
- Trae Bell-Haynes (Zaragoza)
- Khem Birch (Girona)
- Oshae Brissett (Celtics)
- Dillon Brooks (Rockets)
- Luguentz Dort (Thunder)
- Zach Edey (Purdue)
- Melvin Ejim (Unicaja)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Mfiondu Kabengele (Venezia)
- Trey Lyles (Kings)
- Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
- Andrew Nembhard (Pacers)
- Kelly Olynyk (Raptors)
- Dwight Powell (Mavericks)
- Phil Scrubb (Bahcesehir Koleji)
- Thomas Scrubb (Obradoiro)
- Andrew Wiggins (Warriors)
A notable omission is veteran guard Cory Joseph who spoke about being left off the roster this week.
“I took the honor of playing for your country very seriously and did it many times over the years,” Joseph said, according to SportsNet. “This is not me complaining, I’m not a complainer. But there were times when I put FIBA basketball and playing for my country over my NBA situation at the time, whether I was in a contract year and I had no contract at the time and I went to go play for my country, whether I had little bumps and tweaks, I was there. Whether guys came or not, I always thought we still had a chance. For me it’s a little disheartening to be like, ‘Wow, I wasn’t even given an opportunity to compete for whatever position?’
“… I had planned to go to camp, and when you’re talking about the (last three or four spots) on the roster, there’s a pool of talented guys you could put on the roster, (but) I don’t see, in that situation, where I wouldn’t at least be invited to camp to be one of those guys (to compete for a spot), so that’s where my disappointment is with the organization. … I don’t want to take away from the fact that Canada Basketball is in a great place. This is not that. I love all those guys. I want them to do well. Quote that. I just think I should have been invited to camp at the very least, 100 per cent.”
Canada will be in Group A at the Olympics, along with Australia, and the group will be filled out by the winners of the qualifying tournaments in Spain and Greece.
