RJ Barrett came off the college with high expectation being the great hope of the Canadian basketball to produce a worldwide basketball star that could resonate with the Canadian basketball coming a long way. Despite the emergence of players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, Barrett remained the man with a special bond to Canada’s basketball team.
In Canada’s first Olympic appearance in the Basketball tournament since 2000, Barrett made history by scoring the first bucket for his team in the same way that his father Rowan Barrett scored his team’s first basket in Sydney 24 years ago. RJ Barett has been present for Canada since he became eligible to play.
Starting the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2021, the Toronto Raptors wing is playing for Canada Men’s Basketball team non-stop in every big tournament.
“I feel like this is a way to give back. This is a way for us to show just how good Canada is, and also just to show how much we appreciate being [from] where we’re from,” Barrett said in an interview on Sportsnet.ca before the FIBA Basketball World Cup last summer.
Barrett is giving back to the Canadian people since he was 17 with appearances in the Canadian junior teams and several successful runs in FIBA competitions. Barrett kept the same goal in mind since he was a kid, even after making it to the NBA and being labeled as the greatest talent that Canada produced since his godfather Steve Nash.
He wanted to represent his country in the highest level and compete against the best. Canada provided the platform for this, and the young star did not fret.
RJ Barrett always present in moments of need for Canada
Rowan Barrett, father of RJ and current Team Canada Vice-President and General Manager, had the same mentality as a player when it comes to represent the country. RJ Barrett has been nothing but exceptional during his time with his national team elevating his game every time he competes.
In the team’s bronze medal run in Basketball World Cup last summer, Barrett had 20+ points in each of the last three knockout games for the Canadian team. In the Olympic qualifying tournament that took place in Victoria, Canada, the Ontario native went for 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists through three games.
Canada failed to make an appearance in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but they put the building blocks for the success they had in the 2023 World Cup. In the 2024 Olympics, RJ Barrett did the most alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to keep Canada ahead of the competition.
The Toronto Raptors wing opened the tournament with 23 points in the victory against Greece followed by his 24-point explosion against the Australian NT. Barrett is putting up 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists through his first two games in the Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“My dad would always say, ‘You know what? You might go further in your NBA career than I did, but I made it to the Olympics, so until you’ve done that, you’re not the head of the household,” RJ Barrett told to NBC after the Canadian’s beat Greece in Barrett’s Olympic debut.
His father helped Canada to finish at the 7th place during the basketball team’s last appearance in the Olympics. However, RJ Barrett seems to have set the goal a little higher, hoping to help Canada to another finish on the podium after the team clinched bronze in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
“18 points and it’s all within the flow of the offense. He’s not doing anything out of control or out of character, it’s a pretty style of basketball he’s playing right now […] when I say he is hooping, he is hooping man!”, NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade said on RJ Barrett during the game against Australia.
