Last summer both Team U.S.A. and Team Canada suffered when many NBA stars elected not to play for their national teams. The American squad squeaked by with a seventh-place finish at the FIBA tournament which cemented their berth at the Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately, Team Canada wasn’t as fortunate as players like OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander opted out.
In fairness, SGA wasn’t the only one to opt-out. Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray had every intention on playing but an injury sidelined him. Ditto for numerous other Canadians who had either just been drafted as rookies such as Shai’s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker by the New Orleans Pelicans and Brandon Clarke with the Memphis Grizzlies.