TORONTO — For a Canadian basketball fan, it was a wonderful sight to behold: the best and most complete collection of players the men’s national team has ever had in one gym.
On one hoop at the Goldring Centre at the University of Toronto, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander Walker and RJ Barrett were getting up shots, post-practice. Down at the other end of the floor was Lu Dort and Dillon Brooks. On one of the side hoops were national team veterans Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell. On another hoop was Andrew Nembhard and Trey Lyles, along with Leonard Miller and Shaedon Sharpe, two young NBA talents who are in training camp observing, with an eye toward the next Olympic cycle. Jamal Murray had finished his workout, flip-flops on, drinking a recovery shake.
It was a remarkable scene, a decade in the making. Canada’s best NBA players in one place, at one time with one goal: An Olympic medal.
The team that won a bronze medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup last summer and qualified Canada for their first men’s Olympic tournament since 2000 featured seven NBA players, this summer’s version could easily include 12, with several others on the outside looking in.
“I always breathe a little easier when I see [all the players] them on the floor. It’s good,” said men’s national team general manager Rowan Barrett, speaking after the second of two practices the team held on its first day of training camp. “There was some good competition out there. Their bodies are generally in good shape, and the coaches ran ’em through the paces. Definitely a good first day.”
But not perfect, not ideal.
Even with a record turnout of NBA talent, the story of the first day was the unexpected absence of Andrew Wiggins, the enigmatic Canadian veteran who was a somewhat surprising addition to the training camp roster, given Wiggins had declined to be part of the 14-member summer core of 2022 in the build-up to 2024 Olympics.
Barrett confirmed an earlier Toronto Star report that Wiggins would not be in camp, laying the decision at the feet of the Golden State Warriors, saying he got a call from Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy before training camp.
Why?
“That’s something you have to talk to them about,” said Barrett. “But, yeah. Just a simple, ‘Rowan, I’m sorry. We’ve got to pull him out. We can’t have him participate.'”
We many never know exactly why Wiggins was ruled out. While NBA teams can withhold players under contract from international play due to a pre-existing medical condition, they can’t otherwise prevent a player from competition, and given the NBA’s commitment to the Olympics overall — it’s been the ultimate international marketing event for the league since the Dream Team held centre stage in Barcelona in 1992 — having teams pressuring players not to participate would be frowned upon, according to league sources.
And it should be noted that Warriors star Steph Curry is playing for Team USA this summer, which is being coached by the Warriors’ Steve Kerr. Warriors stars Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are gold medalists from past Olympics.
According to a Warriors spokesperson, Wiggins sitting out his best chance to be a second-generation Olympian — his mother, former track-and-field athlete Marita Payne-Wiggins, holds two silver medals from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles — was a “mutual decision with Andrew. We can’t preclude him from playing.”
That said, it doesn’t take much for a team doctor to find some reason to keep a veteran of nearly 750 NBA games out of competition. According to a report in The Athletic, there is a medical issue, although there was no detail provided. Wiggins missed time with an ankle injury late last season, though he did play in 21 of the Warriors’ final 23 games, including their final five as Golden State was eliminated in the first game of the play-in tournament on April 16.
From Barrett’s point of view, Wiggins — who played for Canada in Olympic qualifying for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics — was an enthusiastic go for the men’s team until he quite suddenly was not.
“Well, for us, Andrew was fine,” Barrett said. “We were talking to him consistently. He’s been training for weeks and weeks getting ready for this. And then I got a call from Golden State a day or two before camp saying that they’re holding him out. So, from what I see, this is not an Andrew decision. This is from the team. And so he won’t be with us.
“Most of all, I’m disappointed for him,” Barrett continued. “I think he’s gone through a lot the last couple of years. And then, obviously, his mother was an Olympian. This is something he [was] looking forward to and working towards … bummed for him. And I had a good conversation with him, and he’s definitely trying to push the guys down the track almost, so to speak, hoping for the best for the guys.”
Wiggins has three years left and $85 million on his contract but has had two bumpy seasons — marked by both lengthy injuries and absences for undisclosed personal reasons — since helping the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship, with his performance during that post-season run and what was an All-Star season serving as his professional high-water mark as the 29-year-old he heads into his 11th season.
He is considered to be very much on the trading block as the Warriors try to configure their roster to squeeze another championship run while veteran Curry is still near peak form.
In that context, it’s conceivable the Warriors’ preference was for Wiggins to skip the Olympics rather than risk injury and potentially erode his trade value, although another school of thought might be that a strong showing by Wiggins could enhance it.
As has so often been the case with Wiggins, who has been in the public eye since he started high school as a precocious talent with superstar bloodlines — his father, Mitch Wiggins, played six seasons in the NBA as part of a long professional career —most of what’s actually going on remains difficult to decipher.
The only other player not in camp Friday was Zach Edey, the hulking Purdue star who was selected ninth overall by Memphis in the NBA draft on Wednesday. He was scheduled to be in Memphis Friday, with Barrett getting word on when he would be arriving for training camp soon after, but the expectation is the seven-foot-four, 300-pound big will be available to compete for roster spot.
Barrett said that Minnesota Timberwolves prospect Miller — a late addition to the training camp roster to make up for Wiggins’ absence — was in camp only to round out numbers and gain experience for the next Olympic cycle, similar to Sharpe and Bennedict Mathurin, emerging stars with the Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers, respectively.
In that context, Wiggins’ surprise absence cast an unfortunate shadow on what was an otherwise brilliant day for Canadian basketball and the kick-off for what could be a special summer. The men’s program is ranked sixth in the world and bookmakers has it listed as the second favourite — behind Team USA — to bring home gold from Paris. The women’s program, ranked fifth in the world, is making its fourth straight Olympic appearance, and Canada has a women’s team qualified for the 3X3 tournament in France also.
The enthusiasm is high. “I mean, I think it feels similar to last year,” said Olynyk, who helped Canada qualify last summer and is looking forward to playing in his first Olympics after starting his national team career at the 2010 World Championships. “I would say it’s probably a lot a lot like last year. Obviously, it’s a different tournament coming up, a little bit different guys that have to come together. But we’re all excited for it. And looking forward to it. Everybody’s here and ready to get after it.”
Everybody, minus one.