Canada might have to go up against USA's top NBA stars at Olympics: report

It’s going to be one tough road to the gold medal for Canada’s men’s basketball team at next year’s Olympics.

Fresh off beating USA in yesterday’s bronze medal game at the 2023 FIBA World Cup — and having earlier secured a berth to the Paris 2024 Summer Games — Canada had to be feeling pretty good about their chances.

But with the US sending a team full of NBA talent but lacking a true generational superstar to lead them, it appears that the plan is already in motion to send a more experienced — and ultimately, terrifying to play against — roster to France next year.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon, some of the NBA’s most recognizable names might be making the trip over to Paris next summer.

“LeBron James, a three-time Olympian, two-time gold medalist, and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, has so strong an interest in one more Olympics that he is ready to commit for next summer, and has also called multiple stars to essentially recruit them to join him with USAB in Paris, multiple league sources told The Athletic,” Charania and Vardon wrote.

“James has spoken to Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Draymond Green, and they are all prepared to commit as well. Separately, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving also have serious interest in committing, league sources said.”

James played at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympics, winning gold at the latter two while taking home bronze in 2004.

For a team that could essentially put an All-Star — and maybe even a Hall of Famer — in spots one through five on the floor, you’d have to assume they’d enter the Olympics next year as overwhelming favourites.

But of course, we’ve seen USA’s basketball teams fall short in the past on big international stages, so even if Canada does see themselves going toe-to-toe with this superteam, nothing is guaranteed in the world of FIBA.

Canada, meanwhile, is looking to hopefully add Denver’s Jamal Murray and Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins, who have both expressed Olympic interest in the past but did not take part in this year’s World Cup.

Outside of the two North American teams, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, and South Sudan have all already qualified for the Olympics in men’s basketball, with four more spots left to be decided.

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