Canada determined to upset Team USA at Paris Olympics

Team USA's quest for a fifth straight Olympic gold medal, which gets underway in Paris later this month, could be challenged by its neighbors from up north.

The rivalry between the neighboring countries intensified at last year's FIBA World Cup when Canada defeated Team USA to win the bronze medal after both nations failed to reach the gold-medal tie. 

During that bronze-medal game, Dillon Brooks scored 39 points and made it a point to antagonize his American counterparts, to the point where it set off a fuse in LeBron James and Co. watching from home.

According to several insiders, Brooks' antics triggered the likes of James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to immediately commit to playing in the 2024 Olympics after they sat out the FIBA World Cup. A year later, the stars have lined up for an inevitable Team USA versus Canada rematch in Paris. 

During Canada's training camp on Monday, Brooks took pride in being the catalyst who encouraged Team USA to field its best players rather than bringing a second-string team to France.

"I'm happy that they're playing because, you know, we get to test our talents against theirs," Brooks said, via The Athletic's Sam Amick. "And you know, it should be a fun one. Well at the beginning, it was Steph and LeBron that came out and said something, and then everyone else started joining on. I'm happy that they made the commitment. Talent against talent."

Brooks will be part of a star-studded Canadian squad that includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, Andrew Nembhard, Luguentz Dort and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The Rockets wing believes his country has the personnel to capture Canada's first Olympic gold in basketball.

"The belief was always there; we just had to put it together," Brooks said. "Now we've got a lot of players that are committed, willing to build this every single summer to get better and better and build chemistry and build camaraderie. Our time was last year. And now (it's) our time for this year. But instead of getting bronze, we want the gold."

While Team USA opens its Olympics campaign against Nikola Jokic's Serbia on July 28, the Canadians will face Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece a day earlier.