Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s next international head coach has been revealed

Sportsnet’s Michael Grange broke news on a new coaching hire Wednesday afternoon.

Big Canada Basketball news broke Wednesday afternoon as Sportsnet’s Michael Grange revealed a big hire for the international team.

Per Grange’s sources, Canada Basketball has hired Gord Herbert to coach the Senior Men’s team through the 2028 Olympics. Herbert currently coaches Bayern Munich in the Euroleague and led Germany to a Men’s World Cup gold medal in 2023.

If his name being Gord Herbert didn’t give it away, he’s Canadian. I think Gord Herbert is the most Canadian name in existence. This aligns with Canada Basketball’s apparent focus on hiring Canadian talent in order to continue to foster a strong Canadian identity within the federation.

Grange reported on Herbert’s spot atop the shortlist for this position in recent months. Now, he reports Canada Basketball is expected to make the official announcement as soon as Thursday.

His German gold-medal-winning team included NBA talent like former Toronto Raptor Dennis Schröder, and his new Canada team will have even more NBA talent. Players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort and more are all expected to make returns to the National Team in this next cycle, per Grange.

Herbert apparently “checks all the boxes” for Team Canada GM Rowan Barrett, and the team will be pushing for a medal at the LA Olympics. Those priorities included a coach that has experience in winning medals in international basketball, which Herbert does of course. He also played for Team Canada at the 1984 Olympic Games.

While the men’s side has more time to acclimate to a new head coach, while also bringing back a lot of their core for the next World Cup/Olympic cycle, time is ticking for the women’s team. They will presumably head into training camp in June before playing in the Women’s AmeriCup, then head right into the qualification cycle for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

The women’s team is also going through a lot of change, unlike the Men’s roster. With veteran players on their way out and a new generation of fresh and exciting talent coming in, surely the hope with this hire is that it will be a long-term relationship. Per Grange’s reporting, Canada Basketball has a “preferred candidate” and is waiting for the negotiations to be finalized before revealing who that is. The candidate is said to have NCAA, WNBA and international basketball experience.

Despite all these changes, the Canada Basketball programs are still connected in their purpose: to bring Canada home some hardware. Both men’s and women’s programs have podium aspirations, and the talent coming up to achieve those. Aaliyah Edwards commented at her Washington Mystics Media Day that the Canadian Women’s team keeps connected pretty much weekly as they await their next tournament.