How Canada Basketball is preparing to steal the spotlight at Paris Olympics

There are several ingredients that go into turning a sport into a national sensation: You need a professional team that the country can rally around, a domestic league where players can develop , a media infrastructure that highlights the sport's growth and a national team that can bring even non-sports watchers together for the Olympic Games.

Basketball is growing quickly in Canada, but it has yet to overtake hockey as the country’s most beloved sport. The history isn’t as rich, the media coverage isn’t as nuanced and the cultural cache isn’t as developed. But Canada Basketball has lofty goals when it comes to growing the game, and being at the centre of the next “where were you when?” moment in Canadian sport is chief among them. 

It could happen as soon as Paris 2024. 

By defeating the United States and winning bronze at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the No. 6-ranked Canadian men have qualified for the 2024 Olympics. Now, the Canadian women — who have qualified for three straight Olympics — will attempt to join them there through a two-step qualification process that begins Thursday in Medellin, Colombia. 

It would mark the first time that both the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the same Olympics since 2000. 

“I think it would mean the world,” Seattle Storm and Team Canada guard Kia Nurse said about having Canada’s men’s and women’s teams at the Olympics. “That's way more exposure for basketball in Canada because the Olympics, as crazy as it is, you train four years for two weeks and that is the most high-pressure situation that you can be in, but it's also one of the most incredible experiences that you can go to.”

“So, I think it will be huge … to show our stories, showcase our stories together as one team, it will be really important.”

That’s where the media and Muad Issa comes into play. As the digital content manager at Canada Basketball, Issa has been creating content that takes fans behind the scenes with Canada’s national teams, showcasing key moments while shining a spotlight on the country’s best players in order to help more Canadians familiarize themselves with the country’s national teams. 

“There’s a lot of trust that goes into this from our athletes, to tell their stories the way they deserve to be told,” Issa said. “We’re a megaphone for our athletes, coaches and staff, and want them to feel reflected in the content we put out. That means hearing their perspectives, and building an authentic narrative for Canadians to understand the motivations, challenges, and goals of each athlete and team."

“It’s different voices and experiences, but it’s always ‘one team, one goal.’”

After all, Canada Basketball’s “one team, one goal” mantra is meant to band together the men’s and women’s programs in their shared goals of qualifying and standing on the podium at the Olympic Games. But the unfortunate reality is that, unlike USA Basketball, for example, which can regularly market their NBA and WNBA stars together to a national audience at major international competitions, the last time Nurse remembers the Canadian men’s and women’s teams being together at a competition was when Toronto hosted the Pan American Games in 2015, when the women won gold and the men won silver. 

“So, I'm excited for that and excited to continue to grow our sport here in our country,” Nurse said. “That’s a big part of [the importance of both teams being in Paris].”

In fact, Issa believes the opportunity to showcase all of Canada’s best basketball players together in one place during the Olympic Games will “do a great amount to increase the popularity of the sport.” Plus, he believes that “we’ll get the chance to witness history and cement some household names.”

“When we get back from the Olympics, I’d love to see multiple (Natalie) Achonwa, Nurse, and (Bridget) Carleton jersey’s walking down the street. Or a mural of a moment painted in the heart of one of our players’ hometowns,” Issa said. “We have a chance to create lasting memories, and I’m excited for the opportunity to capture them.”

For now, however, the No. 5-ranked women still need to qualify for the Games. Despite placing fourth at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and third at the 2023 AmeriCup, the qualification process begins at the Olympic pre-qualifying tournament for the Americas in Colombia on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. PT against Venezuela. The Canadians have to place in the top-two of a four-team field that includes No. 12 Puerto Rico, No. 30 Colombia and No. 42 Venezuela in order to advance to the final Olympic qualifier in either Hungary or China in February. 

Considering how rarely the Canadian women get together to compete due to their busy and overlapping schedules, it could be a blessing in disguise to get this extra time together ahead of the Olympics, which will take place in the middle of the 2024 WNBA season. 

“We are all over the place. Half of our team is still finishing their pre-break qualifier stuff in Europe, we got six of us who are here [in Toronto for a mini-camp]. But it is a blessing in disguise,” Nurse said of their busy schedules. “We understand as athletes that every time we go play [for] a team, whether it's the WNBA or Europe, we’re getting better for our national team and for our Olympic team.”

“Any time we get together is great because we get to gel with one another,” Nurse added. “Part of our program and something that I really love about the women's side of Canada Basketball is that there's been such a level of commitment for a number of years that we’ve played together for — me and Nat[alie Achonwa] have played together 11 years, I feel like. So, being able to kinda have that understanding of one another is great.”

After all, Canada has all four of their WNBA players in attendance for this tournament, including Achonwa, who missed the WNBA season after giving birth to son Maverick. They also have their best European pros, including Kayla Alexander, Nirra Fields, and Shay Colley. And then there is high school senior Syla Swords, who has committed to Michigan next season. 

However, due to the timing of the two Olympic qualifiers overlapping with the NCAA and U Sportsseasons, Canada will be without their best college players, including Aaliyah Edwards, who is in her senior season at UConn, and Notre Dame's Cassandre Prosper, who will be in Colombia for the pre-Olympic qualifiers but likely not in the final and more difficult Olympic qualifier, which takes place in February right before March Madness. 

“But that is the greatest thing about building a chemistry and building a culture of Canada Basketball,” Achonwa said. “[It’s] that no matter when your name is called, that you know the style of play, that you know what we expect every time you put the Canada jersey on.”

“So, its just a matter of whoever is here at the camp is showing up and giving all they can.” 

Meanwhile, Canada’s 3x3 teams are also preparing to qualify for the Olympics, where the women’s team of Katherine and Michelle Plouffe, Kacie Bosch and Paige Crozon will be heavy favourites to medal. Despite winning the past two Women's Series Finals, Canada's 3x3 team is still ranked No. 5, outside of an Olympic qualifying spot, with two chances to book its first-ever Olympic berth at qualifying events in May and June. The men’s 3x3 team, meanwhile, can reach Paris through a last-minute qualifier in June. 

“Of course, that should be the expectation,” Canada Basketball CEO Michael Bartlett said of the Canadian teams qualifying for the Olympics. “We expect it ourselves as well, being a podium team. You have to qualify before you can be a podium team. The men have punched that ticket, the women have done it many years, many quads, and we anticipate they will do that as well over the next two qualifying phases.”

“So, yeah we feel the expectations and we relish the expectations because we want to be that for this country.”

Since Bartlett took over as CEO of the program in 2021, he has set some lofty public goals for the men’s, women’s and 3x3 programs. And with the men qualifying for their first Olympics since 2000, the women looking rejuvenated under coach Victor Lapeña, and the women’s 3x3 team winning back-to-back Series Finals, things are going according to plan. 

In fact, Canada’s basketball teams have made it at least to the semifinals to play for a medal in nine of the last 10 tournaments they have participated in, including age group, men’s, and women’s 5x5 teams. It shows the current top-end talent and that there is help on the way, with the Canadian boys ranked No. 7 in the world and the girls ranked No. 5. 

"I think that's the program that we want to be,” Bartlett said. “And it's exciting to keep that going.”

As for Paris 2024, Canada Basketball will shoot for its first Olympic medal since the men’s team won silver in the sport’s official debut at Berlin 1936, 88 years ago. If all four teams reach Paris, a Canadian team could play basketball every single day over the two-week span where basketball is played at the Olympics. 

“We like making history,” Bartlett said. “We want to be the story for Paris. We want to give Canada a reason to be proud of those two weeks in Paris. I've talked very openly with the Canadian Olympic Committee that we’d love to be that thing that Canada can talk about each and every day.”

“That's a great reason and way to rally the country.”

If everything goes according to plan for Canada Basketball, they will get their signature moment in Paris, they will document it and the sport's popularity will grow as a result.