Joseph snub sends dangerous message

Wiggins invite suggests that if you’re good enough, Canada’s three-year commitment is optional

- DAVE FESCHUK

Cory Joseph was a long-shot to make the squad, but there was an expectation that the expression of loyalty would be a two-way street.

Five years and a groundbreaking World Cup bronze medal into his run as general manager of Canada’s senior men’s basketball team, Rowan Barrett deserves his flowers.

The state of the game in this country is a thing to behold. This summer, Canada won’t simply be playing in the men’s Olympic tournament for the first time since Barrett was on that Steve Nash-led team in 2000. Canada is being listed in many sportsbooks as the second favourite to the United States to win the gold in Paris. And while the primary reason for that is an unprecedented surge of NBA-worthy talent — led by the likes of Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and by Barrett’s son RJ — there’s something to be said for the way the program has achieved buyin from the country’s best players. Barrett has described the pillars of his team-building vision as “continuity and cohesion.”

This week, mind you, he added another couple of C-words to the fundamentals of running Canada Basketball: cutthroat choices.

Certainly that was the takeaway from Wednesday’s announcement of the 20-player roster for Canada’s Olympic training camp, which begins June 28. Perhaps the most notable thing about the list of players who’ll vie to earn a spot on the 12-man Olympic-bound roster was a name that wasn’t on it — specifically Pickering-bred NBA veteran Cory Joseph.