In preparation for the FIBA World Cup, Canada Basketball conducted a news conference on Thursday evening to announce the starting roster for the tournament.
There are a number of notable players on Canada’s extended senior men’s basketball roster, including the reigning NBA champion Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.
In addition to Murray, Canada’s roster will feature a large number of other NBA players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who was chosen for the All-NBA team.
In addition, the roster has swingmen Nickeil Alexander-Walker and RJ Barrett, both of whom play for their respective teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks. There were a total of 18 players chosen, including Dillon Brooks, who was just recently moved to Houston from Memphis, and Zach Edey, who was voted the college basketball player of the year. In total, there were 18 players chosen.
Following the conclusion of the World Cup, the roster will be reduced to its final complement of 12 players. The World Cup will take place between the 25th of August and the 10th of September.
The preliminary round of the FIBA world cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia; however, the championship round will take place in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.
The group stage of the competition will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Canada will compete against France, Lebanon, and Latvia during this part of the competition.
If the Canadian men are able to finish in either of the top two positions in the competition held amongst teams from the Americas, then they will be granted an automatic entry in the Olympic competition that will take place in 2024. Canada is now ranked 15th in the world according to the men’s basketball world standings that are kept by FIBA. This is an overall improvement from their previous position of 25th.
