Basketball: Canadian Men Among the Betting Favourites to Win Gold at Paris 2024 Olympics

The Canadian men’s basketball team won the silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Canada has not won a medal in basketball since then. Oklahoma City Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP candidate in the NBA, and the Canadian basketball roster is about as good as it ever has been with multiple NBA players. Now Canada are among the betting favourites to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Canada Basketball ready for Paris?

Odds were just released for basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Canadian men’s basketball team is tied for the third best odds to win the gold medal. Canada has the same odds as France at +1400. Canada won the bronze medal at the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup by defeating the U.S. 127-118. The U.S. are currently the betting favourites to win gold by a huge margin. The U.S. have -360 odds to win the tournament on BetRivers. Serbia has the second best odds. Serbia is +800 at the moment. The 2024 Paris Olympics are scheduled for July 26 to August 11. Canada will be in group A with Australia and two more teams.

The Olympic groups are set for #Paris2024

see you in Lille July 27 pic.twitter.com/6HMHhK7L40

— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) March 19, 2024

According to an article by the Toronto Star, most of Canada’s roster is set. The roster can still change because of injuries and fit. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Dwight Powell, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Melvin Ejim are the eight players who will likely be on the team. All of them were on the 2023 Fiba World Cup team that finished third in the tournament. On paper, this roster should be good enough to compete with any team outside of the U.S. if Jamal Murray plays. 

Team USA looks almost unbeatable

The U.S. team won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics thanks to stars like Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, and Jayson Tatum. Canada would probably have a shot if the U.S. brought back a similar team, but it looks like the U.S. roster will be even better at this year’s Olympics. Early this year, USA Basketball announced their 41-athlete player pool.

LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Donovan Mitchell are a few players on the list who were not on the 2023 Fiba World Cup team. The official roster is not set, but adding any four or five of these players to their roster would make this team almost unbeatable on paper. The last time the U.S. missed out on gold was in 2004, a third place finish. They also won eight of the last 10 gold medals.

Canada Women’s Basketball and more on Paris 2024

The Canadian women’s basketball team is a huge underdog ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. At +5000, they are tied for the sixth best odds with Belgium, Serbia, and Japan. The women’s team has never won a medal at the Olympics. The U.S. won the gold at Tokyo 2020. They are the betting favourites this year by a huge margin, larger than the U.S. men’s team. The U.S. women’s team has -1000 odds to win the tournament. France and Australia have the next best odds at +1500.

Not many sports betting sites released betting markets for basketball at the Olympics this year, but BetRivers is one of them. Right now, you can bet on tennis, soccer, volleyball, field hockey, handball, rugby sevens, and water polo. You can also bet on which country will lead the medal table. The U.S. have the best odds by a ton. The U.S. are sitting at -1000 right now. China has the second best odds at +500. After that, the sportsbooks are not giving another country a shot. Japan is third at +6600. Great Britain is next at +8000. At +150000, Canada is tied for 10th with Brazil and South Korea.