Memphis Grizzlies star and Mississauga, Canada native Dillon Brooks did not show up to the Canada Senior Men’s Basketball training camp this week, according to multiple reports.
This comes about a month after Brooks was listed as one of 14 players who made a three-year commitment to represent his native Canada between now and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The team’s training camp, which began June 27, was headlined by NBA players Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, and a mix of other NBA players and athletes.
Memphis Grizzlies star Dillon Brooks may have a good reason for being MIA
Dillon Brooks, who averaged 18.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG last season for the Memphis Grizzlies may have a good reason as to why he didn’t report to Canada Basketball training camp, according to Josh Lewenberg, a basketball reporter for TSN Sports.
Brooks is still feeling the effects of the ankle sprain he suffered in the middle of the season with the Grizzlies.
“The Grizzlies wanted to stay in Memphis then travel with the team to Vegas for Sumer League to continue receiving treatment/working with the trainers,” Lewenberg tweeted on June 27.
Brooks is still recovering from a mid-season ankle sprain. The Grizzlies wanted him to stay in Memphis then travel with the team to Vegas for Summer League to continue receiving treatment/working with the trainers, I’m told. Nick Nurse hopes to touch base with him later this week
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) June 27, 2022
That’s really good news if you’re a Grizzlies fan, not so great news if you’re a fan of Team Canada. Perhaps this will dampen some of the trade chatter we’ve been hearing about Brooks since he’ll be with the team for the next couple of weeks.
Brooks is now going to have to earn his spot on the Canadian team instead of having a spot guaranteed for him, according to Eric Korean of The Athletic.
The Canada Men’s Senior team has not qualified to compete in seven of the last eight Olympic Games. The last time the competed in the Olympics was in 2000, when they finished seventh in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that, they finished sixth in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.