With the basketball season currently in its off season, it is perhaps a good opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and look back at some of the most inspiring moments in Canadian basketball history. In a sport where winning is everything, success is remembered for eternity and over the course of basketball history, Canada has enjoyed individual and team success that will be forever talked about. Here are the top three achievements by Canadian representation in the basketball world.
Historic Medal at 2023 FIBA World Cup
There have been cases where an individual has carried a team to success, but in a team sport, a culmination of individual talents is required to achieve success. In Manila, this mantra was epitomised by the Canadian men’s national team as they picked up their first ever medal at a World Cup event in the Philippines in 2023.
Perhaps more satisfying was the fact Canada defeated their neighbours, the U.S (127-118), in overtime to secure bronze. Although Dillon Brooks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stole the headlines in the medal-deciding match, a team effort throughout the tournament made Canadians proud and set themselves up well for the next global event in 2027 in Doha.
Raptors Bring the NBA Championship to Toronto
The NBA has been long regarded as the holy grail of basketball and right now, there is only one Canadian team playing in the league. Although both the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined the NBA in 1995 as expansion teams, the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001 leaving the Raptors as Canada’s sole representation out of the 30 teams.
This makes their NBA Championship success in 2019 even more impressive after the Raptors stunned Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors 4-2 to take the Larry O’Brien trophy across the U.S/Canada border to Toronto. The likes of Pascal Siakam, Kawhi Leonard, and Kyle Lowry helped the Raptors write history to become the first ever Canadian team to win the NBA Finals. Once the new season gets underway though on 22nd October, live betting odds at TitanPlay might not be fancying the Raptors quite yet with the Toronto outfit listed as outsiders to take more success back to Canada. But Raptors fans and Canadians will hope the next wave of talent can replicate the success of their predecessors in the future.
Shai Shines to Take Ultimate Individual Prize
In a thrilling NBA Finals series only earlier this year, Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers took the Finals to the seventh game for the 20th time in NBA history. And in the decider, it was Oklahoma who defeated Indiana to win a thrilling series. The success was a first for the franchise but for their star man, history was also written as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the first Canadian to win the NBA Finals MVP award.
The 27-year-old from Toronto scored 212 points across the seven matches to complete the “triple crown”. SGA’s 2025 season will go down as one of the greatest in Canadian basketball history after the forward added the Finals MVP award to the regular season MVP award and the NBA championship with Oklahoma.
It had been a long wait for a Canadian to be crowned MVP after Steve Nash’s back-to-back successes in 2005 and 2006. SGA will hope to continue his fine form into the new season but elsewhere, there is strong Canadian representation in the form of Andrew Wiggins (Miami Heat), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), and the aforementioned Dillon Brooks (Phoenix Suns).
So, there you have it. Those were the top three moments in Canadian basketball history. With the days ticking down until the tip off for the 2026 season, preparations will be ramping up. From a Canadian perspective, all eyes will be on Shai to see if he can lead Oklahoma to consecutive titles.
