Twenty-five years ago Vince Carter dominated the NBA's Slam Dunk competition, inspiring a new generation of Canadian basketball players.
Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be doing the same thing Sunday as the only Canadian playing in the NBA's All-Star Game. Mark Tatum, the deputy commissioner of the NBA, recently compared the impact Carter and the Toronto Raptors have had on basketball in Canada to the potential Gilgeous-Alexander has to inspire more fans.
"It's remarkable. I mean, basketball in Canada is growing and growing and growing," said Tatum in a recent video conference call with basketball reporters from around the world. "Outside of the U.S., we have more Canadian players than any from any other country outside the world, and so that it is part of the Raptors effect."
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.5 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's the third consecutive season where he's averaged more than 30 points per game and is once again being considered an MVP candidate.
He'll be on Team Chuck on Sunday, a squad of mainly international players selected by Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic of Serbia, French phenom Victor Wembanyama and former Raptors star Pascal Siakam of Cameroon will join Gilgeous-Alexander on Team Chuck.
Tatum said those international starts are helping grow the sport around the world.
"That is part of having players, going back to Steve Nash, to today with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is a legitimate MVP candidate and, like many of our players who are from those different countries, they inspire a next generation of player," said Tatum. "This generation of Canadian players now, looking at the Canadian national team and they're really good, and they're going to be good for a long time, I think that inspires an entire country."
Tatum said he thinks the Toronto Tempo, a new WNBA franchise set to begin play in 2026, will have a similar impact on the women's game in Canada.
"We saw that when we brought WNBA games to Canada, they sold out within a matter of minutes," said Tatum, referring to pre-season games held in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024. "The enthusiasm for women's sports, and particularly women's basketball now in Canada, we're going to see that when the new team starts playing in Toronto too."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2025.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press