If elite sports were fair, Melvin Ejim would be an Olympian.
And the Canadian men’s national team veteran may well be one later this month. The 33-year-old is in the mix for one of the final spots on the 12-man roster that will take the floor in France later this month, but the competition is stiff.
Tellingly, two candidates with considerable pedigree were released from training camp on Wednesday: Oshae Brissett, the five-year NBA veteran coming off a championship with the Boston Celtics, and Kyle Alexander, the veteran European pro who helped Canada win a bronze medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup and qualify for the Olympics last summer. Also leaving camp was Leonard Miller, the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie who was a late invite to round out numbers after Andrew Wiggins bowed out, and who will now join Minnesota’s team for NBA Summer League.
But Ejim remains among the 16 talented players vying for spot on head coach Jordi Fernandez’s roster.
Ejim is always here.
The former Iowa State star (one of the greatest players in the program’s history) has always been ‘here’ for Canada. His national team history dates back to the Pan Am Games in 2015 and he has been the hub of so many World Cup qualifying games in far flung locations over the years.
The 6-foot-6 forward has been the ultimate swing player — an offensive and defensive hub in lineups that are lighter in talent during some of the winter qualifying windows, and a quick-thinking, smart moving role player who can seamlessly fit with the NBA crowd when they make themselves available during summer competitions.
But now, less than a month out from the Olympics, and in a roster battle as tightly contested as the men’s program has ever had, the question is will Ejim be ‘there’ — in France, wearing the red-and-white, his Olympic dream realized.
“That would be huge. It’s the biggest goal when you play for a national team,” Ejim said after Day 6 of the training camp in Toronto. “For a lot of guys who are not in the NBA, this is the biggest thing, to represent your country and to get the highest level.
“It would be amazing. I think it would the culmination of 10 years of blood, sweat and tears come realized and it would be a beautiful and amazing thing.”
But it might not happen. From the outside looking in, it’s easy to assume the first 10 spots on the Olympic team roster are spoken for.
First you have the returning NBA core from Canada’s successful World Cup run last summer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett, Lu Dort, Dwight Powell, and Kelly Olynyk.
To that you assume Jamal Murray and Andrew Nembhard are locks, bringing the total to nine.
Given the roster’s need for size and skill, it’s hard to imagine that Trey Lyles — whom Fernandez has coached in Sacramento the past two season and who is coming off a career-best season — won’t be among the final 12. That’s 10.
The job description for the final two spots is simple, but the job — being able to impact a crucial game in an unpredictable role when necessary and be a positive presence when the minutes aren’t available — is far from easy.
“We want to have guys that will be always ready and guys that are willing to win their minutes, whether it’s one, five, 10, whatever it is, they can impact the game and they can help you win a game,” said Fernandez. “… And sometimes those spots where you’re in and out of the rotation or out of the rotation, and then you’re ready to make an impact, that’s extremely important for a 12-man roster, and especially in this tournament.”
In the mix for the final two spots, along with Ejim, are:
• Khem Birch, a six-year NBA veteran who was part of the ‘summer core’ but has been hampered by injuries. Now healthy and coming off a nice finish to his European season, provides a dose of rim protection Canada is otherwise lacking;
• Phil and Tommy Scrubb, who have proven over-and-over they can help the national team in almost any role or configuration;
• Trae Bell-Haynes, who was a back-up point guard at the World Cup a year ago and Mfiondu Kabengele, a brawny, skilled big man and former first-round pick by the Brooklyn Nets who has played parts of three seasons in the NBA, and is coming off a breakout year in his first season in Europe.
It works out to six candidates for two remaining rosters spots. Each player has a case, but four will have their Olympic hopes dashed before the team leaves for Europe following their exhibition game against Team USA in Las Vegas on July 10.
Ejim — who was an Academic All-American in his senior season with the Cyclones, along with being named Big-12 player of the year — can certainly to the math.
If the national team was being selected based on loyalty, commitment and feels, Ejim would be a shoe-in. The Scrubb brothers too; last summer Phil Scrubb’s play off the bench helped turn a tight game against Latvia in group play into a blowout. Thomas Scrubb has typically been one of Canada’s most effective players during the winter windows when the NBA contingent is not available.
But it’s already been demonstrated that the program has reached a phase where hard decisions have to be made, signalled most tellingly when long-time national team veteran Cory Joseph didn’t even earn an invitation to training camp.
Ejim’s loyalty carries no assurances.
“No,” he said. “Like coach said, everyone’s fighting for a job, I’m definitely fighting for a job.”
If he has a leg up it’s his ability to fit in any lineup with his feel and IQ, and his ability to impact a team whether he’s on the floor or not. That is based in large part on his maturity and basketball intelligence — and the credibility those qualities have earned him with his peers over the years. At the World Cup last summer, Ejim played just 19 total minutes during Canada’s final four elimination games, but made an impact regardless. He was a vocal as any coach during games, and a calming presence elsewhere.
“Throughout my career, there’s a lot of roles that you have … and on the national team, in later stages of my career, it’s been more vocal, it’s been more mentorship, leadership, leading by example. And each role is important,” says Ejim, who had a couple of NBA Summer League stints and a season in the G-League before embarking on long career in Europe, playing this past season in Spain. “Each role plays an important [part] in a team’s success and you need to accept the role. And I’ve taken it upon myself to be the best I can be whenever I’m on the court, whenever I’m on the bench to cheer my team on.
It’s not hard to envision Ejim as a head coach when he eventually stops playing. He’s a de facto coach now.
“The coaches have put that responsibility on me,” he says. “I’ve taken it on myself, the guys believe and trust in me. When I’m on the court I take care of business, when I’m off I do my best to make their jobs easier.”
Whether he’ll get a chance to walk in the Opening Ceremony as an Olympian is out of his hands. He’s given countless hours to the men’s program and helped it to crucial wins when others weren’t available. He’s made his presence felt on the floor and off of it.
All of that counts for something, but in Canada Basketball’s new reality, it may not count for enough.