Canadian basketball players including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vote Dillon Brooks as top candidate for tech at Olympics
Canada, the 2023 FIBA World Cup bronze medal winner, is bannered by NBA players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and Dillon Brooks in the 2024 Olympics. The Canadians showed their readiness for the tournament in Paris with an impressive three-game exhibition result. They lost to gold-medal favorites Team USA 86-72 before winning against Serbia 85-73 and Puerto Rico 103-93.
The only medal Canada won in Olympic basketball was a silver in 1936. They hope to at least match that feat in the next few weeks in France.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray are the first names on opposing teams’ defensive game plans. Canada will only go as far as both can take the team. If they’re clicking, a podium finish is again likely for the North American team.
Brooks will serve as the team’s enforcer who can also hit shots from deep. He might also be the first to get in trouble with referees in the Olympics. Here’s what Team Canada had to say about who will get the first technical foul in the tournament:
“SGA: Dillon Brooks. Everyone has said, Dillon Brooks.
“Murray: Dillon Brooks, man. He can’t wait to get a technical [foul].
“Barrett: Dillon [shakes head]. I might get one too.
“Nembhard: Most likely a technical foul is on Dillon Brooks. He’s got a problem.”
Even Brooks knew who would likely get that distinction:
“Me. I’ll probably get the first one. I’ve gotten like four already in FIBA.”
The Houston Rockets guard will not hesitate to get under the skin of opponents. He did it to LeBron James in the Canadians’ exhibition game against the Americans. Early in the first quarter, Brooks engaged the four-time NBA MVP in a little shoving. No technical fouls were called but the little skirmish wasn’t unexpected.
Dillon Brooks was ejected due to two technical fouls in the FIBA 2023 World Cup quarterfinals
Thousands flocked to the SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines to catch the quarter-final showdown between Canada and Slovenia. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus Luka Doncic was the headliner in the said duel. Brooks, though, stole the limelight from the two.
In the first three minutes of the contest, he elbowed Doncic’s teammate Zoran Dragic and was called for an unsportsmanlike foul. He played physical, jawed and jostled against “Luka Legend.” Doncic’s first technical foul happened after arguing a non-call following a Brooks slap against him.
Brooks and Luka Doncic were eventually tossed out of the game. The former Memphis Grizzlies player was sent to the locker room in the fourth quarter for taunting the Slovenians. Doncic was ejected in a separate incident. He was given his second technical foul for flopping.