TORONTO, Ont. (November 27, 2020) – Canada Basketball is excited to announce the roster for Canada’s NBA 2K eNational Team that will compete next month in the FIBA Esports Open II.

Canada is one of seven federations that will compete in the FIBA Esports Open II North and Central American conference from Dec. 19-20.  An expanded field of 38 national teams from across all FIBA regions was announced for the second edition of the FIBA Esports Open.

This will be the first Esports competition for Canada Basketball and the second edition of the FIBA Esports Open.  The first FIBA Esports Open was the inaugural international esports event for national teams and was held over three days in June and featured 114 gamers from 17 national federations across Oceania, Southeast Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and South America.

Earlier this month Shane Talbot, Team Manager, and Sam Pham, Head Coach, were appointed to oversee roster selection, operations and team performance.

"We scouted the country and interviewed around 20 of the best Canadian NBA 2K players for inclusion on this team,” said Talbot.  “Although the final roster can only feature seven players for this first FIBA event, the future is looking very bright for Canada's eNational Team Program."

“Team Canada is comprised of four current NBA 2K League pros, and three upcoming Draft hopefuls. We have some of the most talented defenders in the world, which will be key to our success," said Pham.  “Our offence will flow through our talented young Point Guard, Sav, with RipxRell slated to join him in the backcourt, while our front court will be comprised of some combination of Yusuf_Scarbz, AuthenticAfrican, and Dhuggzz with DTeeLace or ItsGoon_x playing the lockdown defender role."

Each team will consist of seven players: five on the court and two reserves. The PS4 Game will be played remotely on NBA 2K21, using the Pro-AM mode.

In order to be eligible, players must be a minimum of sixteen (16) years old by the first day of the competition and must provide proof of Canadian nationality (e.g., a passport, national ID card, or birth certificate.)

The Europe conference is set for December 12-13, while the North and Central America, and South America conferences will take place on December 19-20. Finals will take place in the FIBA Esports Open II in all conferences, with a best of three format.

As was the case for the inaugural FIBA Esports Open, this entire series will be produced from the FIBA Esports Studio in Riga, Latvia, with 54 hours of live content being streamed on FIBA's Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels. Each game will be available online with live commentary in English, as well as a daily show featuring up to 12 games.

To find out more visit the FIBA Esports Open website here.