Canada has historically produced some phenomenal NBA players. With time, this has only gotten better and more true. For the first time ever in 2023, Canada medalled at the FIBA World Cup. On top of this, the country appears to now have its long-term superstar in Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who just recently won the NBA MVP award.
Though Canadians now are only getting increasingly good at basketball, the country has a rich history in the sport that shouldn’t be ingnored. From Dr. James Naismith, the creator of basketball being a Canadian national, to the two-time MVP Steve Nash calling Canada home, and to so much more, there have been no shortage of legendary Canadians in basketball.
In this article, I’ll be counting down the 10 best Canadian NBA players of all time. From Montreal to Toronto and more, here are the NBA players who have put Canada on the map. I’m going to focus more on peak than longevity, so I am truly sorry to Bill Wennington, who had a very long career but no real “star-esque” season.
10. Tristan Thompson (2011-present)
In his prime, Thompson was a beast. Now that he’s slowly withering away as a journeyman in his last few years in the NBA people may be starting to forget, but Thompson was once a key rotational center for the NBA finals Cavs teams, even starting in some of their later years. At his very peak, Thompson was a double-double guy who anchored some very competitive LeBron Cavs teams. For all of this, Thompson barely cracks our list of best Canadian NBA players of all time.
9. Dillon Brooks (2017-present)
If you look solely at Brooks’ box score stats, he’s undoubtedly higher up on the list of best Canadian NBA players of all time, but his problems lie in his poor advanced metrics. Sure, Brooks has been good for over 15 PPG and solid defense in his prime, but he does it on very poor efficiency to the point where many advanced stats consider him an offensive net negative.
Still, Brooks is a phenomenal defender (7th percentile dEPM in his peak) and has an x-factor mentality that renders him a good motivator for any team he’s on, and a worthy addition to our list of the best Canadian NBA players of all time. On his young Rockets team, only time will tell what else Brooks can do in his career.
8. Jamaal Magloire (2000-2012)
Magloire makes for an interesting case here: he’s one of few Canadians to ever make an all-star team, but his numbers don’t really live up to many others who never had the same honour. In his peak, Magloire was a double-double machine for some decent Hornets teams, but a short peak and no real team success hold him back from being higher on this list.
Magloire is a very unique case, but one deserving of making the list for best Canadian NBA players of all time.
7. Luguentz Dort (2019-present)
Lu Dort was once looked at similarly to Dillon Brooks: a dog on defense who produced a lot of points on offense at an inefficient rate. But as Dort has aged and settled into his role with an OKC team that has no shortage of offensive options, he’s become a decently efficient 3-and-D guy.
If Oklahoma City wins this year’s championship, Dort may go even higher on this list, especially if he’s assigned the opposing team’s lead guard and shuts him down during the finals. Still, Dort makes a serious case to be the greatest Canadian perimeter defender in NBA history.
6. Rick Fox (1991-2004)
Before the Canadian basketball explosion of the mid-2010s, way back in the ’90s and early 2000s, Rick Fox was putting Canada on the map as an early example of the “point forward” archetype that has become so popular in recent years. Way back then, Fox was a guy who could do it all: he shot the three, rebounded, passed, and he even finished 6th in defensive player of the year voting one time.
What separates Fox from those lower than him on the list is that he three-peated with the Lakers in the early 2000s. Sure, he was a far-cry from he 15-5-4 guy he was in Boston by that point, but he was still a starter for 2 out of those 3 years, and provided the Lakers with much needed floor spacing and playmaking. When discussing the best Canadian NBA players of all time, Fox makes the list as a star of yesteryear’s less developed Canadian basketball.
5. RJ Barrett (2019-present)
Nicknamed Maple Mamba, the 2019 #2 overall pick had steep expectations coming into the NBA. And while it’s taken a while for RJ to settle into the NBA, he’s looking more and more like a star with each passing season, having averaged 21, 5, and 6 over the 90 games that he’s been a Toronto Raptor.
Because he is in Toronto right now, RJ has the opportunity to do something that few Canadians have – he can be a star for his own home city’s team. RJ is currently 2nd in career PPG among all Canadians and his EPM (estimated +/-) has only been on an upwards trend for the past few years. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in to the young core the Raptors are building long-term.
As he ages, “Star-J” may find himself even higher on the list of best Canadian NBA players of all time.
4. Andrew Wiggins (2014-present)
Wiggins is one of only two Canadians to be selected first overall, where the Cavaliers drafted him in 2014. Out of high school, he was nicknamed Maple Jordan, and was one of the most hyped NBA prospects before making it to the league. Through his career, Wiggins has had to fight “bust” allegations – but while he hasn’t had the typical career trajectory of a first pick, Wiggins has carved out a nice career for himself, complete with an NBA championship and all-star appearance.
Wiggins was a part of the 2022 champion Warriors, as well as some other good Warriors teams, but as he moves onto the Miami Heat in the next stage of his career, and is now 30, we’ll see as his career continues to progress. Considering that the top 3 guys on this list are bonafide stars, Wiggins takes the cake for best role player on this list, and is arguably one of the best role players in all of NBA history, providing immensely valuable 3-and-D basketball.
3. Jamal Murray (2016-present)
At this point in his career, it’s sort of crazy that Kitchener native Jamal Murray has never made an all-star team. He’s easily building a case to be the best player in the league with no all-star appearances, because if you asked any NBA fan, they’d say that Murray is a star.
What sets Murray apart from other players with similar regular season stats as him on this list is that he’s a playoff riser through and through. In his Nuggets’ 2023 playoff run which ultimately ended in a championship, Murray averaged superstar numbers of 26 PPG, 7 APG, and 6 RPG on great efficiency. In the finals of these playoffs, his scoring dropped slightly, but he averaged 10 APG.
Murray has been the firm number 2 for the perennially competitive Denver Nuggets since 2019, and has slowly but surely built up one of the best resumés of any of the best Canadian NBA players of all time.
2. Steve Nash (1996-2014)
I know, I know. Bring the pitchforks out – but I truly believe that Nash has been overtaken atop the list of the best Canadian players ever, peak for peak. I’ll get to that when i discuss #1, but first, I’ll praise Nash for his hugely impressive legacy.
First, let’s get one thing straight. There is absolutely a case for Nash to still be first on this list, and Jamal Murray or Andrew Wiggins or anyone else below him do not even come close to Nash here. We’re talking about a 2-time MVP here. In his prime, Nash was the best playmaker in the NBA, and he still has a case to be the greatest playmaker of all time.
On top of this, Nash was hyper-efficient, being in the 50-40-90 club a ridiculous 4 times, including in his first MVP season. He was the leader of some great Suns teams, and has some amazing longevity too. So perhaps I’m being too much a prisoner of the moment by putting Nash 2nd on this list, but I fully respect anyone who is not yet ready to make such a bold claim.
With that, though, it’s time to talk about the one player who I think now has a greater peak.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2018-present)
I may have to rescind this if the Thunder somehow fumble the 2025 NBA finals, but as of my writing this, I have to assume that they’re going to beat the Pacers/Knicks in the finals, and that Shai will win finals MVP.
At this point, we’re talking about someone who’s an MVP just like Nash, but who was also able win at the highest stage, which Nash was unable to do. Shai already finished 2nd in MVP voting last year, and is now on his third year making the All-NBA first team. He’s a mainstay top 5 player in the NBA, which even felt like a stretch for Nash in his peak. Nash’s MVPs are controversy-filled, and I just don’t know if that will be the case for Shai down the line, especially if he proves valuable enough to lead his team to a championship. The Thunder have been phenomenal, and Shai is the driver of that.
Shai’s career is still young, and so it is still hard to put him atop the list of the best Canadian NBA players of all time, but if we’re looking more at peaks rather than longevity, Shai takes the cake narrowly for me now.
Best Canadian NBA Players of All Time: Nash vs SGA Advanced Stats Comparison
To illustrate the strengths of both Shai and Nash, here’s a table comparing some of their advanced stats in their peak years and where they ranked in their respective seasons. For Nash, I chose 2006, and for Shai, I chose this past 2025 season.
| Statistic | 2005-06 Steve Nash | 2024-25 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander |
| Player Efficiency Rating | 23.3 (14th) | 30.7 (2nd) |
| True Shooting% | 63.2% (1st) | 63.7% (17th) |
| Win Shares | 12.4 (10th) | 16.7 (1st) |
| Box Plus/Minus | 5.0 (16th) | 11.5 (2nd) |
| Value over Replacement Player | 4.9 (17th) | 8.9 (2nd) |
SGA has the advantage of being a two-way player, which advanced metrics rightfully value, but Nash leading his league in an efficiency metric as a short guard is extremely impressive. Either way, it’s very cool that these metrics prove that two Canadians were among the league’s very best at some point. Elbows up!
