TORONTO (June 1, 2025) – Canada Basketball is celebrating a landmark moment, as a record-tying four Canadian players will compete in the 2025 NBA Finals — a milestone that reflects years of national investment in player development, infrastructure and high-performance programming.

This marks the second consecutive year four Canadians will appear in the Finals, following the 2024 showing by Oshae Brissett, AJ Lawson, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Dwight Powell.

From grassroots to the global stage, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard each represent a generation of athletes shaped through Canada Basketball’s age-group teams, national training camps and international competition. Following the Indiana Pacers’ Eastern Conference Finals victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night, they will meet the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 on Thursday, June 5.

“To see four homegrown players competing for an NBA championship is a testament to the depth, resilience, and world-class players being developed in Canada,” said Rowan Barrett, general manager and executive vice-president of men’s high performance at Canada Basketball. “We couldn’t be prouder of what this means for our country and for the continued growth of the game.”

In addition to his Finals appearance, Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2024–25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player and secured the 2025 NBA scoring title en route to leading the Thunder to their first Finals berth since 2012. Meanwhile, Dort finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and has earned widespread recognition for his relentless on-ball defence against the league’s top scorers.

On the other side of the bracket, Mathurin and Nembhard — both drafted in 2022 — have played key roles in Indiana’s playoff run, making a deep post-season push just three years into their NBA careers.

Their rise, alongside Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort, reflects the growing influence of Canadian athletes at the highest level and speaks to the strength of Canada Basketball’s development system — from the Junior Academy to national age-group teams and senior programs.