Canada’s best men’s basketball players were left wanting more in 2024.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in NBA MVP voting for the 2023-24 season, the best performance among a record-high 27 Canadians in the league. His Oklahoma City Thunder had a disappointing second-round exit in the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs, and Canada’s men’s senior team finished fifth at the Paris Olympics.
Gilgeous-Alexander said that it was only once Canada fell to France 82-73 in the Olympic quarterfinals on Aug. 6 that he realized exactly what he’d lost.
“The opportunity to medal and win, we didn’t get a chance to do it and being in it, you kind of take it for granted,” said Gilgeous-Alexander after the Thunder visited the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 5. “Every year I get a chance to win an NBA championship, and every four years I get a chance to try to win the Olympics.”
Canada …