Knicks wing R.J. Barrett and former overall No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins of the Warriors highlight the Canadian National Teeam for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The roster also includes several other NBA players including Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Lu Dort, Cory Joseph, Trey Lyles and Mychal Mulder as well as former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett.
“Hosting the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is a great occasion for basketball in our country and the team that’s been selected to represent Canada this week is committed to our goal of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” said Rowan Barrett, R.J.’s father and the GM and Vice President of Canada Basketball. “On behalf of Canada Basketball and our supporters across Canada, I would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the players and staff for their commitment, sacrifice and pride for our country.”
Canada is hosting one of four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments at the Victoria Memorial Arena in Victoria, B.C from June 29-July 4, 2021. Fans in Canada can catch all the action live on CBC across its various platforms, both on television and online, as well as streamed on DAZN.
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments feature the 16 best-placed non-qualified teams from the FIBA Basketball World Cup and two highest-ranked countries per region in the FIBA World Ranking, Presented by NIKE.
Canada is in Group A for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and will face Greece (June 29 – 7:05 PM ET) coached by Rick Pitino and China (June 30 – 7:05 PM ET) in the Group Phase, while Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey have been drawn into Group B for the Victoria FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Click here for a full tournament schedule.
Each team will play the other two teams in its own group (two games for each team). The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals. The two semi-final winners will advance to the Final, with the winner qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria has drawn Group A for the Group Phase of the Tokyo 2020 Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament and will face Iran, France and USA.
In addition to Canada, the National Federations of Croatia (Split), Lithuania (Kaunas) and Serbia (Belgrade) will also host FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
Canada is currently ranked 21st in the FIBA World Ranking, Presented by NIKE and is looking to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2000.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram
And Like ZAGS on Facebook
