Canada Basketball outlines new plan to compete for Olympic gold in 2028
In many of the past few NBA Finals, it hasn’t been all that rare to see some of the best talent in Canadian basketball on display on the biggest stage in the game.
In 2022, it was Andrew Wiggins finding All-Star form with the Golden State Warriors, while Jamal Murray helped the Denver Nuggets win the 2023 title with just four playoff losses along the way.
This past season, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wrapped up an all-time campaign, winning both regular season and Finals MVP en route to his organization’s first-ever NBA title.
“With success comes many complications, and [his team] is doing a great job of managing the madness,” Canada Basketball CEO Michael Bartlett said in an interview with Offside. “He is an absolutely wonderful example of what you want in an icon, an icon in your country. He truly leads by example.”
But while success has happened at both the individual and team level for many of its top stars, it’s been 89 years since Canada found itself on the podium in basketball at the Olympics.
For Bartlett and the rest of the Canada Basketball staff, the Los Angeles Games in 2028 are the biggest stretch goal to look ahead to, while also having the men’s and women’s FIBA World Cups coming up in 2026 and 2027.
Canada is operating with an annual budget of around $16 million, in comparison to budgets hovering around $60 million for the USA and France, per Bartlett. One of the biggest challenges Bartlett outlined for the organization was attempting to keep up the momentum of the growth of basketball year-round in the country, rather than just inside the Olympic windows.
“We believe there are many fans of basketball in Canada, many fans of our athletes. How many fans do we have of Canada Basketball? And is it their fault that they’re not fans of ours, or is it our obligation to create more fan engagement and more fan ability by the opportunities that we give them?” Bartlett said.
Enter Unify+: a newly launched fan-engagement web platform that is accepting both free and paid memberships.
“We have to do a better job of giving fans access and exposure, and engagement opportunities, not just award those that are the best fans of ours, but also the conditioned behaviour, so that they recognize that Canada Basketball’s journey to the next Olympics in LA 2028 actually started the day the torch was extinguished in Paris. It doesn’t just start up again three years from now,” he said.
The platform, which officially launched Monday, offers the chance for fans to keep up with Canadian basketball players competing in the NCAA, NBA, WNBA, or other leagues around the world.
“It was just good people coming together, saying, let’s take a crack at solving this problem. And the platform of Unify+ was the end outcome,” Bartlett said.
Fans are given points for engaging with the product — commenting, liking, and sharing — and the points can eventually be redeemed for prizes as well as experiences such as tickets to Canada Basketball-affiliated events.
“Basketball is being played 365, and if they’re not wearing the Team Canada jersey 365, our Canadian players are playing somewhere almost over the course of the entire year,” Bartlett said.
In addition to the free tier, a Pro membership tier is available for $80 a year, and a Founders membership tier for $120 a year. The pro membership comes with a free hat or T-shirt, while the founders tier also comes with a custom jacket designed by local artist Casey Bannerman, a longtime staple in the Canadian basketball scene.
In upcoming versions of the platform, there will also be coaching tips, as well as chances for young players to help get their own game highlights recognized by the larger basketball community.
Outside of the NBA talent, Bartlett also shared excitement for the WNBA’s first-ever Canadian team coming next year, with the Toronto Tempo slated to join the league as an expansion team in 2026.
“I think you’ll see an even greater spike in girls and women’s basketball in this country as a result of that,” Bartlett added. “[The WNBA coming to Canada] isn’t competition for us. That is a blessing and an opportunity for us to work with them and make sure that our women’s program sustains its trajectory well into the future as well.”
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