Canada Basketball announces FIBA World Cup Qualifier game in Hamilton on Canada Day

With both the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, Canada Basketball announced its summer core roster on Tuesday — as well as a World Cup qualifying game in Hamilton on Canada Day.

The 14 core players announced include several NBA and NCAA players who have not been able to play in past FIBA qualifiers due to their team schedules. These players have also made a commitment to play with the Canadian team through the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics (on dates that do not conflict with their NBA/NCAA schedules).

The Roster includes:

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett, Khem Birch, Oshae Brissitt, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Zach Edey, Melvin Ejim, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cory Joseph, Jamal Murray, Kelly Olynyk, Kevin Pangos, and Dwight Powell.

On top of the announcement of the roster, Canada Basketball also announced that a FIBA World Cup qualifier game against the Dominican Republic will be played in Hamilton, Ontario on July 1st (Canada Day). Tickets for this game will go on sale on May 27th.

Canada is in Group C for these qualifiers and will face the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and US Virgin Islands. Through the first two rounds of competition Team Canada is 4-0 and hopes to continue its winning ways.

In order to make it to the World Cup, Canada must either finish 1st in their group, or be the best second place team in the Americas region. The 2023 FIBA World Cup group stages is set to take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, with the final rounds being played in Manila.

These announcements are a continuous part of Canada Basketball’s efforts to grow the game of basketball in Canada and give fans more opportunities to watch and connect with their national teams.

Canada Basketball also announced a continuing partnership with the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The efforts in this partnership include bringing more games and events to Canada through FIBA and other organizations, expanding personal and professional growth opportunities, and a commitment to diversity and equity.

The game on Canada Day provides fans their first opportunity to see this squad live since February 2020. The hope in each player committing to the team is to be able to build chemistry over the next few competitions before bigger events like the World Cup and the Olympics. The Canadian Men’s team came just short of making it to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and sights are set on making it to Paris.

On the women’s side, Canada has punched their ticket to the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Australia this September after a set of qualifying matches in February. While the women’s National team did make it to the Tokyo Olympics last summer, they did not make it past the group stage. Their hope is to make it onto the podium at the Paris games!

As the game of basketball continues to grow in Canada, events like this upcoming match in Hamilton, and the GLOBL JAM tournament later this summer are excellent opportunities for fans to come out and see rising talent.

Canadians continue to take the basketball world by storm, with more being drafted to the NBA and WNBA each year. As the talent pool continues to grow, make sure to keep up to date on all things Canada Basketball — Paris will be here sooner than you think!