As one of Canada's dependable core players, Melvin Ejim embracing role as 'glue guy'

Consistency, continuity, chemistry, commitment.

They are the watch words for the Canadian men’s national team as they try to channel the country’s considerable basketball talent in a way that translates into team success at the highest levels.

It’s why they established a core of 14 players willing to sign on for three consecutive summers with an eye towards challenging for the podium at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup and qualifying for the Olympics in 2024 for the first time since 2000 — and just the second time since 1988.

It's why Canada Basketball has bent over backwards to create the kind of working environment — private planes; catered meals; five-star accommodations — that will resonate with what NBA players experience in their full-time jobs.

But it’s also why — when establishing that core — they included Melvin Ejim.

On the surface, he doesn’t fit the profile: He’s not an NBA player, for example, and other than appearing in some pre-season games with the Orlando Magic, never has been. He’s not young — at 31, he’s the oldest on the team — and he’s not someone who has been projected to do big things for Canadian basketball since he was a teenager.

But Ejim gets things done. And as Canada takes on No. 7-ranked Argentina on Thursday at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria to open the second stage of qualifying for the World Cup, it’s that quality that has made him essential to head coach Nick Nurse’s plans.

The 6-foot-7 forward has a wide range of skills, including a sky-high basketball IQ and the kind of emotional IQ that has made him a perfect fit in professional locker rooms all over Europe, but perhaps his most useful for Canada is that he always brings them. Melvin Ejim shows up.

“First of all, it's great to have just unwavering commitment from him,” says Nurse. “No matter whatever is going on. He finds his way here. And then he goes out on the court and he may not score a million points or grab a million rebounds or whatever, but he makes plays.

“He's gonna start the game and take a charge. He's gonna come up with a loose ball. He's gonna get an offensive rebound and put it back. He's like a spark. … He's a hard-playing guy who gives everything into playing for his country, which is awesome.”

Coincidence or not, Ejim wasn’t in Victoria for last summer’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament that ended in the semifinals with an overtime loss to the Czech Republic, putting Canada’s Olympic dreams on hold again. Ejim was ruled out of the event with a knee problem after being in training camp with the team in Tampa.

Could his brand of basketball have been a difference on a team that boasted eight NBA players?

“Yeah, 100 per cent,” said Cory Joseph, younger than Ejim by just four months and a friend and rival since his Scarborough Blues were battling Ejim’s Malton Mavericks in the Ontario Basketball Association as middle-schoolers. “We definitely could have used him.”

And once again, they have him. Ejim will likely be in the starting lineup for Canada — a perfect 6-0 in qualifying when they host Argentina, who are 5-1. That’s fine with Ejim, but if he wasn’t that would be fine, too.

“On different teams, different places, your role changes,” Ejim said after practice this week. “So I just kind of just embrace whatever role on whatever team I'm part of and whatever role they need from me. It’s about what’s best for the team, and just being a star in your role. I know that’s a phrase you hear a lot, but in different places, and different stages or my career, I’ve had different roles, and wherever I’m I try to embrace the role I’m in.”

It’s worth pointing that Ejim hasn’t only ever been a role player. As a senior with Iowa State he was the Big 12 conference player of the year, an all-American, and the team’s leading scorer, his résumé including a 48-point game — believed to be an NCAA record for Canadian in the shot clock era.

So why does being a ‘glue guy’ come so easily for one of the finest players to ever come out of Brampton?

“I wasn’t always a scorer, I had to work at the game, to be good enough in my role to get to that position [of being a go-to scorer],” he says. “And not a lot of people have the kind of versatile skill sets you need to be a role player. Some people are just shooters, some guys just play big. But I can do a lot of different things and provide a lot of different value in a lot of different roles and can easily [shift] through those different roles. That’s one of the skills that I have.”

For some of the young NBA players on the roster who are playing with Ejim for the first time this summer, getting to know him as a player has been a rewarding experience.

“With Mel and all he does, it’s just about playing the game,” says Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the 23-year-old guard who is heading into his fourth NBA season. “People don't realize that whether you're in China, whether you’re in Europe, or the NBA. Basketball is the same thing.

“Yes, there might be some differences, but you're always gonna need someone who's gonna put their body on the line for the team. You’re always going to need someone who defends, rebounds, cuts, and creates space, and that’s what Mel does. His game translates anywhere. He’s going to defend, he’s going to rebound, he’s going to make open shots when you need him to and first and foremost he’s going to lead us. He’s a savvy vet.”

Savvy enough to know that basketball doesn’t last forever. The former academic All-American has given thought to law school when he finally retires. Whatever path he takes, he’ll have options. But Ejim’s put a lot of summers into playing for Canada and earned a lot of air miles flying from Europe to points across North and South America to help anchor teams during the winter qualifying windows when NBA players aren’t available. He’s been a backbone and an example.

He’s married and has a young family and he’s dealt with personal loss — his younger brother, Kenny, passed away suddenly this past winter while playing professionally overseas. Had Ejim decided to focus on his own career rather than continue playing internationally everyone would have understood, and he would still be one of the most highly regarded players ever to suit up for Canada.

But for now, there are games to play, and goals to reach, and so Ejim remains where he has been for nearly a decade now: in uniform for his country as the embodiment of the principles the national team is trying to foster as they work towards gaining the international status they believe they deserve, but has so far proved elusive.

“I think I might be the oldest person on the team,” Ejim says smiling, even as his old friend Joseph reminds him that, yes, he most definitely is. “So obviously the window, close it. Actually, the window is closing a little bit. But you never know what happens. I'm just trying to look forward to the Olympics. So I'm gonna try and qualify and do our best as a nation and then after that, we'll see what happens.”

Whatever happens, it won’t be for a lack of consistency, continuity, chemistry, or commitment. Ejim will see to that.