The Canadian Men's National Team is back at the Olympics for the first time in 24 years. And while Team Canada is set to roll out its most talented roster ever, the group will have its work cut out.
In March, FIBA announced the group drawings for the Olympic basketball tournament. At the time, Canada's only known preliminary opponent was Australia. The other two spots were to be decided during the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that concluded on July 7.
With the four-team group now set for the Olympics, it has earned the moniker of the Group of Death, pitting Team Canada against three of the world's strongest basketball powers.
Here is more on the challenges that lie ahead for Team Canada.
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Canada's Group of Death, explained
The Canadian Senior Men's National Team is one of four teams in Group A at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The other three nations represented will be Australia, Greece and Spain.
Australia, which won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games, qualified for the Olympics during the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Both Greece and Spain punched their tickets to the Olympics by winning qualifying tournaments held on their home soil.
To be clear, Canada's standing as an up-and-coming world power also has a hand in the "Group of Death" moniker. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, Team Canada has a stellar backcourt and is one of the reasons Group A is complete with talent from top to bottom.
In FIBA's most recent world rankings, Spain (2), Australia (5), Canada (7) and Greece (14) each finished in the top 15.
Greece
Each national team features its fair share of NBA talent but no challenge looms larger than Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has a claim as being the best player present at the Olympics.
Antetokounmpo helped Greece knock out Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He then finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in a double-digit win over Croatia to earn a spot in the Olympics, leading to this emotional moment:
What it means for Giannis 🥹#FIBAOQT pic.twitter.com/rpacKTH6PA
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 7, 2024
The Greek roster also features former NBA Draft picks Kostas Antetokounmpo, Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, Kostas Papanikolaou and a trio of 2024 EuroLeague champions that includes Konstantinos Mitoglou.
Australia
Headlined by recent lottery picks Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey, as well as national team stalwarts Joe Ingles and Patty Mills, the Australian Boomers roster features eight current NBA players in addition to 2016 NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova.
Spain
The Spanish National Team features a pair of former Raptors in Lorenzo Brown and Juancho Hernangomez, two of six players on the roster who have appeared in an NBA game.
Spain is led by Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama and also features Spurs 2024 draft selection Juan Nunez.
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Canada Basketball Olympics schedule
Canada opens its Olympic journey against Antetokounmpo and the Greek National Team. They then take on Australia before closing group play against Spain.
| Date | Opponent | Time (ET) |
| July 27 | Greece | 3 p.m. |
| July 30 | Australia | 7:30 a.m. |
| Aug. 2 | Spain | 11:15 a.m. |
Canada's most recent matchup with one of the above teams came at last year's FIBA World Cup as it earned a three-point win over Spain during the second phase of group play.
How can Team Canada qualify for the Olympic quarterfinals?
The Olympic basketball tournament features three groups of four teams. Eight teams advance to the quarterfinals and four are eliminated following group play.
The top two teams in each group automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. The final two spots go to the two best third-place teams. The eight quarterfinalists are divided into four pots according to their cumulative ranking.
With matchups against Greece, Australia and Spain, the clearest path for Canada is to finish first or second in Group A. Canada is eliminated if it finishes fourth in the group but still has an opportunity to advance if it finishes third among the group of four teams.
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Canada Olympics men's basketball roster
Here are the 15 players who will travel to Las Vegas to represent Team Canada at the USA Basketball Showcase:
| Position | Player | Team |
| G | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | Timberwolves |
| G | RJ Barrett | Raptors |
| C | Khem Birch | Basquet Girona (Spain) |
| F | Dillon Brooks | Rockets |
| G | Luguentz Dort | Thunder |
| F | Melvin Ejim | Unicaja (Spain) |
| G | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Thunder |
| F | Mfiondu Kabengele | Venezia (Italy) |
| F | Trey Lyles | Kings |
| G | Jamal Murray | Nuggets |
| G | Andrew Nembhard | Pacers |
| C | Kelly Olynyk | Raptors |
| C | Dwight Powell | Mavericks |
| G | Phil Scrubb | Bahçeşehir Koleji (Turkey) |
| G | Thomas Scrubb | Monbus Obradoiro (Spain) |
Canada will cut its roster to 12 players for the Olympics.
