When the Canadian senior men’s national team opens training camp this weekend, exactly one month ahead of its return to the Olympics, it will be a long overdue celebration of the program’s storied past, exciting present and promising future. Josh Lewenberg has more.
TORONTO – When the Canadian senior men’s national team opens training camp this weekend, exactly one month ahead of its return to the Olympics, it will be a long overdue celebration of the program’s storied past, exciting present and promising future.
On the court, Jordi Fernandez will be coaching the most talented group of Canadians the program has ever assembled, preparing them for next month’s business trip to Paris. The 20-man training camp roster features 13 current NBA players, including an MVP runner-up, two all-stars, one all-league defender, three NBA champions, nine first-round draft picks and seven lottery selections.
“The players, when they see us walk in, they’re going to feel something. Like, this is the alumni, this is the previous group of people that represented our country at the Olympics, and this truly, truly is a huge deal. Not a big deal, a huge deal.” That first call to Kelsey was made on June 14. With the help of his rolodex, they started to put out feelers. Within 48 hours, they had commitments from roughly 80 per cent of the guys – provided they could work out the logistics, which also proved challenging.
The response was resoundingly positive. Of the 60 players from those five Olympic rosters, three are deceased , four had prior commitments and another four couldn’t make it for medical reasons. The rest will be in Toronto this weekend. The family of the late legendary coach Jack Donohue will be represented, as well. It should be noted that the attending alumni have agreed to cover the costs of the weekend so that it doesn’t come out of Canada Basketball’s tight budget.
This weekend could go a long way in healing those wounds and bringing everybody together. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray will be able to pick the brains of some of the old heads before starring on the world stage and getting their first taste of the Olympic experience next month. Zach Edey, the young centre who was just drafted ninth overall to Memphis, could learn a thing or two from guys like Wennington, Wiltjer, or the 7-foot-1 Jim Zoet.
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