NBA Awards show Canada Basketball is on the rise

The 2024-25 NBA season is officially the most awarded season for Canadians in the NBA. With the mix of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP, Luguentz Dort’s First Team All Defense selection, and Zach Edey’s selection to First Team All Rookie – they’ve combined to do something that is unprecedented for Canadians in the NBA.

It was cool when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an All-Star the same year Dillon Brooks was selected to an All-Defense team, and even cooler to watch them knock off Team USA at the FIBA world cup that summer. However, this season is the culmination of several recruiting classes of Canadian stars — as guys like Kelly Olynyk and Tristan Thompson age out, and SGA, Jamal Murray etc. hit their primes — and a tremendous moment in Canadian basketball. Of course, when Steve Nash won back to back MVP’s he was the big, beaming beacon of hope for Canada Basketball. SGA hasn’t approached back to back MVP’s yet, but his MVP is couched in a much more successful crop of Canadians.

Read Oren Weisfeld’s piece on the new leader, and coach of Canada Basketball.

To recap how these guys won their respective awards:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP:

32.7ppg / 6.4asts / 5rbs / 1.7stls / 1blk / .519/.375/.898 shooting splits / 63.7% TS

He was the NBA’s leading scorer, and did so while maintaining hyper efficiency on an abnormally difficult shot diet. His bag of attacks and counters in the middle of the floor is nearly unprecedented in the history of the sport, and his amoebic live ball dribble is as tough to stay in front of as any player in the league. He hit 302 pull-up middies this season and shot an absolutely blistering 52-percent on them. He’s also a major positive on the defensive end (a rarity for star guards) and a fulcrum of his teams almost historic defense that pounces on dribbles and loose balls to pester and blow up opposing offenses.

Luguentz Dort, First Team All-Defense:

10.1ppg / 4.1rbs / 1.6asts / 1.1stls / .5blks / .435/.412/.717 shooting splits / 58.6% TS

The Thunder like to play undersized and hyper fast on defense. They also had to go a large chunk of the season without Chet Holmgren. In that environment, the immovable aspect of Dort’s defense, at his size, made him a lynchpin in so much of what the Thunder like to do. He became the natural anchor point for some of the biggest mismatches. Taking on all comers and giving the Thunder a more rigid option. While their swarming defense is extremely effective, having a heavier, fire hydrant of a man to throw at bigger options was incredibly important. Dort does all that, plus he can also ramp things up and play as fast as the Thunder like.

Zach Edey, First Team All-Rookie:

9.2ppg / 8.3rbs / 1ast / .5stls / 1.3blks / .580/.346/.709 shooting splits / 62.4% TS

Being big as hell is still really important, it turns out. Also, as I mentioned in the pre-draft leadup with Edey, he moves better than a lot of people suspected. It doesn’t mean he’s a dynamite mover, he’s too large for that, but it’s meaningful. Between the foot speed and fluidity and his improvement in stepping out for prove em 3-point takes? He dispelled some of the worries about his game. The things he was always going to be good at, he excelled at as a rookie. He controlled the glass on both sides of the floor to an insane degree for the Grizzlies, as he had the largest swing in the NBA of positively swinging ORB% and DRB%. The Grizzlies defense was also better with him on the floor and allowed significantly less free throws.

His hook shot was in the top third of the NBA, and his at rim finishing (layups and dunks) was, as expected, extremely elite. He’s huge. Although the Grizzlies didn’t use him in the pick and roll that often — partly why their coach was fired — his numbers were absolutely elite as a roll man. He had his struggles across a couple different defensive coverages, and he’s not a dynamic offensive player yet, but he’s a rookie big and he was damn good.

Honourable mention, Andrew Nembhard:

Of course SGA will be the defining player of this era of Canadian basketball, but the effectiveness of the program will reach beyond him and beyond Dort & Edey as well. The Pacers are up 1-0 on the Knicks in the ECF, and Andrew Nembhard has shored up their backcourt with incredible impact. Not only has he run one of the most efficient pick n’ rolls in the NBA playoffs, but he is the Pacers best on-ball defender, and an elite off-ball defender on top of that. He wasn’t in consideration this year, but a fully healthy season from himself (and a bit better defense from the Pacers) could see him selected to an All-Defense team in the future as well.

Canadian Basketball is in a great spot.

Have a blessed day.

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