Twenty-five years in the past, Vince Carter dominated the NBA Slam Dunk competitors, inspiring a brand new era of Canadian basketball gamers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from Hamilton can do the identical on Sunday as the one Canadian to play within the NBA stars match. Mark Tatum, the assistant commissioner of the NBA, lately in contrast the influence that Carter and the Raptors of Toronto had on basketball in Canada with Gilgeous-Alexander potential should encourage extra followers.
“It is exceptional. I imply, basketball in Canada is growing and growing and growing, “stated Tatum at a latest video calling for basketball journalists world wide. “Exterior the USA, we’ve extra Canadian gamers than some other nation exterior the world, and that it’s a part of the Raptors impact.”
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Gilgeous-Alexander has a median of 32.5 factors, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds for Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. That is the third consecutive season when he has a median of greater than 30 factors per recreation and is once more thought of a MVP candidate.
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He shall be on the Chuck group on Sunday, a group of primarily worldwide gamers chosen by the famend temple Charles Barkley. The MVP Nikola Jokic trimester from Serbia, the French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama and the previous Raptors star Pascal Siakam from Cameroon will be part of Gilgeous-Alexander in Workforce Chuck.
Tatum stated these worldwide departures have been serving to to develop sport worldwide.
“It’s a part of having gamers, going again to Steve Nash, immediately with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s a professional MVP candidate and, like a lot of our gamers who’re from these completely different international locations, they encourage subsequent Technology of gamers, ”says Tatum. “This era of Canadian gamers now, wanting on the Canadian nationwide group and they’re actually good, and they’ll be good for a very long time, I believe it evokes a complete nation.”
Tatum stated he thought that the Toronto tempo, a brand new WNBA franchise that ought to begin taking part in in 2026, can have an analogous influence on the feminine recreation in Canada.
“We noticed that once we introduced WNBA matches in Canada, they bought in a couple of minutes,” stated Tatum, referring to the pre-season video games in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024. ” Enthusiasm for feminine sports activities, and particularly girls’s basketball now in Canada, we’ll see that when the brand new group begins to play in Toronto too.
This Canadian press report was revealed for the primary time on February 15, 2025.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
