I tend to give my homeland a bit of shit (I call it the communist republic of Canada after all), but I truly do love and appreciate Canada and being Canadian. Which is why I try to balance my disdain for Canada's venture down the collectivist rabbit hole with an appreciation for some of the great things Canada has to offer. Enter Canada Basketball.

Basketball was not really a sport of interest within my circle (family and friends) when I was growing up. This is hockey country after all and the Blue Jays (and Expos at the time) were the only other non hockey big 4 pro options at the time. NFL was very popular as well due to it being the NFL and the Bills being reasonably close to where I grew up. The NBA in the mid 80's to the early 90's was most definitely an after thought in the Canadian sports fan's mind.

Until some guy named Jordan. The first time I remember anyone at school wearing NBA merchandise or basketball shoes or ever talking about basketball was the early years of the Bulls dynasty. Suddenly we all went from talking hockey, baseball, football at recess to begging our parents for the latest basketball shoes. The first basketball shoes I ever owned were the original reebok pumps with the basketball on the tongue that inflated it for a tighter fit.

Basketball was starting to break through into pop culture in Canada but aside from watching Jordan and the Bulls decimate everyone and win championships we didn't really have a rooting interest. Until 1995, when the NBA expanded to both Toronto and Vancouver. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies were born but Canada was still far from Basketball country. At this time, the NBA probably still ranked 4th amongst the pro sports in interest in Canada. I recall going to games that inaugural season and sitting in the 500 level of the skydome (air canada centre had yet to be built) and barely being able to see the court. I recall going to one game and sitting so far away that the guy sitting next to us was using binoculars to watch the game and then his wife getting pissed at him for not putting them away when the cheerleaders came on the court to dance. Another fond memory of this era was getting to "see" (relative term) the Raptors play Jordan and the Bulls in 1996 and win.

The Raptors were not very good and eventually the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, so basketball wasn't exactly thriving in Canada but a young high flying superstar named Vince Carter came along and everything changed. Carter dominated the 2000 dunk contest and like the "be like Mike" era that had swept the US a decade earlier, Canada was about to have their "Vinsanity" moment. Vince Carter was a great player, never elite, but he was an all star, dynamic and must see. In 2001 he helped propel the Raptors to game 7 of the Eastern conference semi-finals and an entire generation of kids ( and adults too) became huge basketball fans.

Vince is often thought of as the tipping point at which Canada became a hot bed for developing some of the best basketball talent in the world but I would be remiss to not mention the greatest Canadian born player ever (soon to be overtaken by SGA) 2x MVP Steve Nash as well.

Fast forward to 2024 and the NBA now has a record 27 Canadian born players and these guys aren't just bench warmers. MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads a pack of stars that features nba champions Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, and Chris Boucher. Young studs like RJ Barrett, Benedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard and great role players like Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort and Dwight Powell.

The present and future of Canadian basketball is bright. A game invented by a Canadian, finally revered by Canadians, finally producing world class talent.

Sats for all, GR