‘We’ve got to fill this stadium’: Canada Basketball GM urges fans to attend FIBA qualifiers in Hamilton

Sixteen of Canada’s top basketball stars have congregated on home soil to compete in the FIBA men’s basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifiers this coming weekend. 

With hundreds of tickets still available ahead of the two games, Canada Basketball General Manager Rowan Barrett is encouraging fans to show up for their country. 

“I don’t know why I have to put out a reminder, we need people to get out to TicketMaster and get these tickets. We’ve got to fill this stadium,” Barrett said in a press conference Monday. “We very rarely get opportunities to play in our country.” 

Canada is set to host Puerto Rico and Jamaica at the TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ont, on Friday and Monday, July 6, respectively, for Window 3 of the Qualifiers. 

“I don’t want to hear people sharing ‘I want our players to play, they need to show up and play, they got to be wanting want to play for their country’ and then when they do, they come here and we don’t fill the stadium,” he added. 

NBA stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikeil Alexander-Walker, and Dillion Brooks are three of the 16 players present at training camp to represent Canada at this stage of qualification. 

“Theres’ players here that want something for their country, and their country has to want it for them too,” Barrett said. 

Barrett’s son, RJ Barrett of the Toronto Raptors, will not compete in the upcoming qualifier games, however he will be present at training camp this week in Toronto. 

Road to World Cup 2027 

After defeating Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, earlier this year, Canada will enter the weekend at the top of Group B with a perfect record of 4-0. 

“This will be the first time we’ve kind of integrated the NBA players into this group. The vision is Gold, World Cup, Olympics,” head coach Gordie Herbert said. “But we’re still looking to qualify for the Worlds.” 

Herbert, who required players to commit to the program for the next three years leading up to the 2028 L.A. Olympics, says that building base player continuity over the next few years is critical 

“The words commitment and continuity. We have a group of elite individuals, and a lot of players who impact the games in different ways but first and foremost we need to create a team mentality,” he said. “That’s what we’re starting with today.”  

The 2025 NBA champion and two-time league MVP Gilgeous-Alexander was the leading scorer for the team at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, where Team Canada fell short to France in the quarterfinals. 

“I’ll never forget after we lost to France, Rowan told him [SGA] he needed to be our leader and that’s what he’s here to be,” Mississauga, Ont., Dillon Brooks said at the press conference. 

“We see what’s in front of us. We’re not just playing to play, we’re here to wear this flag on our back and wear it with that pride.”