VANCOUVER –NBA Canada Series presented by Bell 2023 will feature two preseason games in Vancouver (Sunday, Oct. 8) and Montréal (Thursday, Oct. 12). On Oct. 8, the Toronto Raptors will take on the 2022-23 NBA Pacific Division champion Sacramento Kings in front of a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. On Oct. 12, Canadians Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and the Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Detroit Pistons at the Bell Centre in Montréal.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at the 2023 NBA Canada Series presented by Bell games in Vancouver:
NBA Canada Series presented by Bell
- 1 – The Oct. 8 matchup will mark Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković’s preseason debut. Rajaković was named Raptors head coach in June 2023, replacing Nick Nurse.
- 2 – The Kings’ coaching staff features two former Raptors players: Leandro Barbosa and Doug Christie.
- 3 – The Raptors and the Kings feature three players who were NBA All-Stars in 2023: Pascal Siakam (Raptors), and Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox (Kings).
- 4 – Kings players and executives won four 2022-23 NBA awards:
o Forward Keegan Murray was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
o Fox was the first recipient of the Jerry West Award (Clutch Player of the Year).
o Head coach Mike Brown was named the unanimous NBA Coach of the Year.
o General Manager Monte McNair won NBA Basketball Executive of the Year.
- 9 – The Kings last appeared in an NBA Canada Series presented by Bell game nine years ago in Vancouver, falling to the Raptors 99-94.
- 11 – The 2023 NBA Canada Series presented by Bell marks 11 years since the first Canada Series game was held in Montréal, QC.
- 1996 – Jay Triano, the first Canadian-born head coach in NBA history, is an assistant coach with the Kings. Triano began his NBA career in 1996 with the Vancouver Grizzlies.
- 2023 – Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernández was named head coach of the Canadian Men’s National Team ahead of the 2023 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup, where he led the Canadian Men’s National Team to their first medal on the World or Olympic stage since 1936 and helped the team qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
NBA in Canada
- 6 – Throughout the 2023-24 preseason and regular season, NBA games will be held in six different countries: Canada, France, Mexico, Spain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the U.S.
- 9 – Canadian Jamal Murray became the ninth Canadian to win an NBA Championship when the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals.
- 13 – During the 2022-23 NBA season, average regular-season viewership in Canada grew 13% year-over-year.
- 22 – There were a record 22 Canadian players on opening-night rosters for the 2022-23 NBA season.
- 214 – NBA games and programming reach fans in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages.
- 1891 – The game of basketball was invented by Canadian Dr. James Naismith in 1891.
- 19,923 – The recorded attendance at the first-ever WNBA Canada Game presented by Tangerine, which featured the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx playing a preseason game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on May 13, 2023. The game marked the first WNBA game in Canada and broke WNBA records for viewership, attendance (19,923) and merchandise sales.
- 5,000,000 – More than five million fans from Canada follow the NBA’s global and localized social media accounts across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, X and YouTube.
