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Canada Basketball

Veteran Kelly Olynyk happy to be back with Senior Men's National Team as program enters new era

TORONTO (June 28, 2022) – Just seconds before chatting with assembled media at the OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto early Monday afternoon, Kelly Olynyk, saw the friendly face of Jamal Murray approach him with a million-watt smile.

Olynyk reciprocated with a wide grin of his own and dapped up Murray before he settled in front of the assembled microphones and tape recorders, stealing a quick, longing glance at the activity happening just beyond this media barrier as his Canadian senior men’s national team teammates were getting going to begin preparations for the third window of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

He was back.

There’s not many times over the span of Olynyk’s 12-year-plus Senior Men's National Team career that he’s missed time suiting up and after a summer off last year, the 31-year-old veteran has returned, looking to help this team reach the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Olynyk was unable to play during Canada’s last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria, B.C., as he was an NBA free agent at the time.

Like everyone else watching at home, seeing Canada come up short once again during that tournament was deflating for the seven-footer – perhaps even more so because he believes he could’ve been a difference-maker for Canada.

“Really hard, especially watching from a distance, knowing that you can’t be there and probably help change the narrative in some way and help in some way,” said Olynyk. “It's tough to sit back and watch it end that way and obviously you don’t want it to happen again.”

The stars couldn’t align for Olynyk in that moment, however, and now the Senior Men’s program is looking to break its Olympic drought in 2024 in Paris, with the first step towards that goal being World Cup qualification.

In the midst of a qualifying campaign for the World Cup, Canada will begin its third window on Canada Day Friday at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton as it takes on the Dominican Republic. A few days afterwards, on July 4, Canada will face the U.S. Virgin Islands abroad at UVI Sports and Fitness Center.

Compared to games seen in Victoria last year, there’s a lot less at stake – particularly with Canada already having clinched a spot into the second round of qualifying – but it’s still important for the team’s NBA players like Olynyk to be involved in these contests as the squad looks towards the future.

During the first two windows, Canada didn’t field any current NBA players. That will change for this third window and the forthcoming fourth one.

For Olynyk, and other NBA players in camp such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Murray – who is participating in camp but won’t be playing in the games – the opportunity with the national team this summer isn’t like one they’ve ever had before.

The structure of the national team has changed drastically from when Olynyk was just getting started as a teenager. Before, fans would hope for the best that there would be commitment, now there’s a pool of players that have been locked into a three-year deal to play for the team that includes a number of Canada’s top NBA stars, with the Kamloops, B.C., native among the group.

“Obviously it's tough, you don't know what's gonna happen in the summer, next summer or summer after with the (NBA) season, injuries, life. Everything pops up, stuff happens, so it's definitely complicated, it’s something that, if you want to be here and you’re for it, you're gonna make time, make it your priority and that's kind of what we're trying to make happen and make it about so hopefully that can happen.” Olynyk said.

Being around the Senior Team as much as he has, Olynyk understands that the lack of stability among the squad’s roster construction has played a part in some of the disappointment he’s experienced playing for Canada. As such, he’s optimistic about what this new pool of locked in players for this Olympic cycle might be able to accomplish.

“You need it,” Olynyk said of the value of having a core group. “You need that continuity and that cohesiveness on and off the floor. You see it at all levels, whether its international, high school, college, university or even with NBA. Teams that are together for a long time know how each other play on and off the court.”

Having spent nearly all of his adult life suiting up for Canada it’s understandable that it hurt Olynyk when he was unable to play and try to help the nation reach the Olympics for the first time since 2000.

He’s back now, though, and by the sounds of things is fully committed to this three-year plan that’s now driving the program forward.