Analysis | Raptors and Pistons at the forefront of an unprecedented Canadian wave

The possibility that basketball history could have been made Saturday night was brought up to Cory Joseph in a phone conversation this week, and the veteran Canadian NBA player could almost be heard smiling with pride.

“Unbelievable,” said the Pickering native. “That’s crazy, man.”

The vagaries of NBA rotations and injuries delayed potential for a moment like no other in the history of the sport: There could have been six Canadian players: Khem Birch, Dalano Banton and Chris Boucher of the Raptors; Kelly Olynyk, Trey Lyles and Joseph of the Pistons, on the court at the same time at the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night.

The teams will meet again on January 14. By then, Olynyk could be back from a knee injury that had him on the shelf for at least six weeks, the team announced Thursday night. Birch also has knee problems. But it’s only a matter of time before the day comes when more than half of the players on the court at the same time have direct ties to basketball in this country, another milestone in the evolution of the sport here.

“In a few years it could be eight or ten,” Birch said.

The interesting, and telling, point is that we need moments of historical significance to make the possibility of a “Canadian” NBA moment special. We’re at a point where having a homegrown product in an NBA game, or two, or even three, is routine and hardly worth mentioning.

There were 22 players from Canada, or those with strong ties, on the NBA rosters at the start of this season, the most of all time and more than any country other than the United States.

Gone are the days when we celebrate seeing a Canadian play or do well. It’s just not much anymore.

“Every time I look at the league and I look at the charts and I see one Canadian, two Canadians, it’s incredible,” said Boucher. “We have come a long way. And being from Montreal, that’s more impressive. There’s me, Khem and Luguentz (Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder) and more guys coming. “

However, make no mistake. The Canadian Raptors and Pistons know that they are benefiting from the path laid out by others and are setting a standard for future generations.

“I always feel like I need to be a role model,” Birch said. “I don’t want to be the stereotypical basketball player. I want the guys to see that if you play hard, you can achieve your goals. “

In conversations with them this week, they all paid tribute to those who came before and spoke of the responsibility of continuing to advance the game, and the possibility of achieving dreams, to the young players that lie ahead.

The two names that came up most frequently were predictable, but revealing.

There was Steve Nash, the two-time NBA MVP and one of two Canadian players (Bob Houbregs being the other) elected to the basketball Hall of Fame. That is natural. Players of this generation would have been beginning their trips to the NBA and Nash, one of the best players of his time, who helped revolutionize the game, would have been a landmark.

The other, however, was a testament to all the good things about athletes who stood their ground, believed in themselves, and may not have built a Hall of Fame career, but still a career of the one anyone would be proud of.

Joel Anthony of Montreal, not drafted from the college, had a 10-year career that included two NBA championships. His journey resonates.

“I don’t know if others (followed him), but I did it 100 percent,” Birch said of teammate Montrealer. “I used to see him in the playoffs, and that’s where I get the ‘play my part’ from, it’s him.

“I tried out for the Miami Heat in 2014 and I remember the coach (Erik Spoelstra) telling me about Joel Anthony and how he used to have guys wide open, and that (stays) in my head. That’s why I always want my guys to be open to this day. “

The proliferation of Canadians in the NBA is a testament to role models like Nash and Anthony, Jamaal Magloire and Bill Wennington, Rick Fox and Mike Smrek. They were oddities in one way, but beacons in another.

As they shined, the game grew, the training improved, the opportunities improved, the exposure increased, and eras followed eras.

Joseph, Olynyk, Wennington, Tristan Thompson, Todd MacCulloch, and Leo Rautins fathered Jamal Murray, Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, and Dwight Powell.

And the Canadian players who will be at the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night.

“However, I am happy that it is so. It just goes to show you how the game continues to evolve in Canada, ”said Joseph.

“We had talent. Only the exposure wasn’t the same as it is now, not at all. Obviously, when more programs started, more good training … (that) allows more kids to get more involved, get inspired and start playing at a higher level. “

And they will come from everywhere. For every top draft pick, Andrew Wiggins, Thompson, Anthony Bennett, Gilgeous-Alexander, gems like Birch and Anthony, Brooks and Banton and Powell emerge. The scope is, in a way, amazing.

“I think our generation will obviously be the one the guys will talk about in the future, so I think we have a lot of potential in the country to talk about more guys in the future,” Birch said.

If there was a consistent message, it is that there is no reason why a young Canadian player should not pursue his NBA dream to the full. The league now welcomes Canadian basketball. It is a country that can be constantly exploited in search of talent.

All teens need is a dream and the knowledge that so many have paved the way.

“Keep working, keep chasing your dreams,” Olynyk said. “We have to be an example for future generations, to make sure that children know that it is a possibility.”