Canadian basketball is on the rise, and this year’s cast around the NBA features a stronger representation from the North than ever before.
With rosters locked in for the regular season, there are a record 20 Canadians player in the NBA this year, with 16 on standard contracts and four on two-way deals.
Canada is, in fact, the most well-represented country in the NBA other than the United States.
The Raptors, Grizzlies and the Thunder each roster a pair of Canadians — Chris Boucher and Oshae Brissett in Toronto, Dillon Brooks and Brandon Clarke in Memphis, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort in Oklahoma City.
You’ll probably notice that most of these players are in their first few years in the league, and eight of them are rookies. A record six Canadians went in this year’s NBA Draft, and two more were able to land roster spots in preseason.
It’s an exciting time to support homegrown talent, for sure, and it seems likely that the pipeline only continues to grow as more kids growing up have real NBA stars from where they’re from to look up to.
And of course... it doesn’t hurt that the Toronto Raptors are reigning NBA champions.
