The Victoria organizing committee for the Olympic basketball qualifying tournament in June heaved a sigh of relief with the announcement Tuesday that the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 NBA season will start earlier than expected on Dec. 22.
It means that at least NBA players who don鈥檛 make the playoffs, and those eliminated in the first two rounds, will be available to compete for their national teams from June 22 to July 4, 2021 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. At stake is a berth in the delayed Tokyo Olympics, which begin July 23, 2021.
鈥淭his is good news. We are pleased with the announcement because we now know NBA players are likely to be competing in the qualifying tournament here,鈥� said Clint Hamilton, chair of the Victoria organizing committee.
鈥淲e had meetings with the NBA. This constitutes an understanding of how important the Olympics are to the NBA players and how much they care about playing for their national teams.鈥� The logistics 鈥� whether fans will be allowed into the Memorial Centre to watch games and the fate of the planned city-wide festival aspect 鈥� will come down to the health measures in effect in the summer. Nearly 3,000 full tournament passes had been sold for last June鈥檚 originally scheduled qualifying tournament with single-game tickets expected to be gobbled up quickly when they became available. Then the International Olympic Committee announced on March 24 that the Tokyo Olympics would be postponed to 2021.
The Victoria qualifying tournament will feature sa国际传媒, Greece, China, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey. Quarantine rules for the players, if still in effect at that time, will have to be worked out between world basketball governing body FIBA and the health departments of sa国际传媒, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia, which are hosting the qualifying tournaments that will decide the final four teams to the 2020 Plus One Tokyo Olympics.
There are high hopes the so-called current Golden Generation of Canadian NBA players will end some significant droughts.
鈥淚 believe we will have the best Canadian team in some time, if not in history, and are pointing to podium success in Tokyo,鈥� said Hamilton.
鈥淚 think it will be a cathartic moment for basketball in this country. That鈥檚 why we bid to host the qualifier in Victoria.鈥�
sa国际传媒 has not won an Olympic medal in men鈥檚 basketball since Victorians Doug Peden, and Art and Chuck Chapman captured silver at Berlin in 1936. sa国际传媒 has not been to the Olympics in men鈥檚 hoops since two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria captained the national side at Sydney in 2000.
The notable era previous to Nash鈥檚 run to Sydney 2000 was when University of Victoria stars Eli Pasquale, Gerald Kazanowski and Greg Wiltjer got sa国际传媒 to the semifinals at Los Angeles in 1984. Pasquale and Kazanowski followed up with sixth place at Seoul in 1988.
