The Most Famous

BASKETBALL PLAYERS from Canada

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This page contains a list of the greatest Canadian Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,757 Basketball Players, 18 of which were born in Canada. This makes Canada the birth place of the 13th most number of Basketball Players behind Greece, and Germany.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Canadian Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous Canadian Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Canadian Basketball Players.

Photo of Bob Houbregs

1. Bob Houbregs (1932 - 2014)

With an HPI of 39.40, Bob Houbregs is the most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Robert J. Houbregs (March 12, 1932 – May 28, 2014) was a Canadian professional basketball player. Houbregs was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.

Photo of Rick Fox

2. Rick Fox (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 37.04, Rick Fox is the 2nd most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ulrich Alexander Fox (born July 24, 1969) is a Bahamian-Canadian actor and former basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the owner of the eSports franchise Echo Fox until his departure from the franchise in October 2019. His acting credits include roles in Oz, He Got Game, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty, The Game, The Big Bang Theory, Meet the Browns, Melrose Place, Mr. Box Office, Sin City Saints, Krystal, Sharknado, Greenleaf, Morning Show Mysteries, All Rise and Holes.

Photo of Bill Wennington

3. Bill Wennington (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 36.89, Bill Wennington is the 3rd most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

William Percey Wennington (born April 26, 1963) is a Canadian former professional basketball player who won three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Chicago Bulls. A center, he represented Canada in the 1984 Olympics and 1983 World University Games, where the team won gold. He was also on the Canadian team that narrowly missed qualification for the 1992 Olympics. Wennington has been inducted into the Quebec Basketball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 35.92, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 4th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Shaivonte Aician Gilgeous-Alexander ( SHAY GHIL-jəs; born July 12, 1998), also known by his initials SGA, is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and was selected 11th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA draft before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers that same night. In his rookie year, Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team before being traded to the Thunder in July 2019. In his first year with Oklahoma City, he was their leading scorer and helped them make the playoffs as a fifth seed. After dealing with injuries the next two seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander was named to his first NBA All-Star Game and was voted to the All-NBA First Team in 2023, when he finished fourth in the league in scoring with 31.4 points per game. With the Canadian national basketball team, Gilgeous-Alexander won the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and was named to the World Cup All-Tournament Team. He was given the Northern Star Award in 2023 as Canadian athlete of the year, only the second basketball player so honoured.

Photo of Nik Stauskas

5. Nik Stauskas (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 35.73, Nik Stauskas is the 5th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines from 2012 to 2014. He was drafted eighth overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. Stauskas, whose family is of Lithuanian heritage, is a member of the Canadian national team. As a freshman for the 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines, Stauskas was named Sports Illustrated National Freshman of the Week once, Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week three times and to the Wayman Tisdale Award, United States Basketball Writers Association's National Freshman of the Year, top 12 midseason list. During the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, he earned South All-Regional Team recognition. As a sophomore for the 2013–14 team, Stauskas went on to be named a 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball consensus All-American and was named Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year for the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season. Stauskas has played for several NBA and NBA G League teams. In 2022, he reached the NBA Finals with the Celtics.

Photo of Tristan Thompson

6. Tristan Thompson (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 35.23, Tristan Thompson is the 6th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016 and has also played for the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers. Thompson played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns before being drafted fourth overall by the Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA draft. He has also played for the Canadian national team.

Photo of Anthony Bennett

7. Anthony Bennett (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 33.94, Anthony Bennett is the 7th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Anthony Harris Bennett (born March 14, 1993) is a Canadian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) for one year. He was the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the first Canadian to be drafted number one overall. He played only four seasons in the NBA, averaging 4.4 points, and is often considered the worst number-one pick in league history.

Photo of Jamal Murray

8. Jamal Murray (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 33.82, Jamal Murray is the 8th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Jamal Murray (born February 23, 1997) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Canadian national team. He played one season of college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the Nuggets as the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

Photo of Andrew Wiggins

9. Andrew Wiggins (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 33.51, Andrew Wiggins is the 9th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Andrew Christian Wiggins (born February 23, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers after one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks. Wiggins grew up in Canada before attending his last two years of high school in the United States, where he was named a McDonald's All-American. At Kansas, he was named a second-team consensus All-American before becoming the second Canadian to be selected No. 1 overall in an NBA draft. After a preseason trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wiggins earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors for the 2014–15 season. After five and a half seasons with Minnesota, he was traded to Golden State in 2020. In 2022, Wiggins won his first NBA championship and was selected for his first NBA All-Star game, and was named a Western Conference starter. He has also been a member of the Canadian national team.

Photo of Kevin Pangos

10. Kevin Pangos (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 32.57, Kevin Pangos is the 10th most famous Canadian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Kevin Joseph Pangos (born January 26, 1993) is a Canadian-Slovenian professional basketball player for GeVi Napoli of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He spent his college basketball career playing for the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference. He was named the 2015 WCC Player of the Year, as well as a third-team All-American by Sporting News. Pangos has also represented Canada on the international stage.

People

Pantheon has 36 people classified as Canadian basketball players born between 1932 and 2002. Of these 36, 35 (97.22%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Canadian basketball players include Rick Fox, Bill Wennington, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The most famous deceased Canadian basketball players include Bob Houbregs. As of April 2024, 18 new Canadian basketball players have been added to Pantheon including Kevin Pangos, Dillon Brooks, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Living Canadian Basketball Players

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Deceased Canadian Basketball Players

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Newly Added Canadian Basketball Players (2024)

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