section_path: National team career
section_name: National team career
paragraph_text: National team career
  
  Gilgeous-Alexander played for the Canadian junior national team that competed in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in Valdivia, Chile, averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per contest, en route to winning a silver medal. Later in the same year he joined the senior national team at the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila. Canada was defeated by France in the tournament final, missing qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics.
  
  On May 24, 2022, Gilgeous-Alexander was one of fourteen players to agree to a three-year commitment to play with the national team, aiming to break a decades-long trend of failing to qualify for the Olympic basketball tournament. At the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Gilgeous-Alexander was the central figure on the Canadian roster, leading them on a historic deep run. On September 3, they qualified to the quarter-finals of the tournament, in the process securing a berth at the 2024 Summer Olympics, which he called "almost indescribable." The team ultimately won the bronze medal after defeating the United States in the third-place game. This was Canada's first ever World Cup medal, and first medal at a major global tournament since the 1936 Summer Olympics. In recognition of his individual play, Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the World Cup All-Tournament Team. For both this and his feats in the NBA in 2023, he received the Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year and the Lionel Conacher Award as the Canadian Press ' choice for Canadian male athlete of the year. Gilgeous-Alexander was only the second basketball player to receive the two honours, in both cases after Steve Nash.
  
  He was named to Canada's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. After a strong unbeaten performance in the group stage, which was deemed the "group of death" by experts, Canada was surprisingly eliminated in the quarterfinals by hosts France. Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the tournament's All-Second Team, after averaging 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
  
  Gilgeous-Alexander played for the Canadian junior national team that competed in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in Valdivia, Chile, averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per contest, en route to winning a silver medal. Later in the same year he joined the senior national team at the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila. Canada was defeated by France in the tournament final, missing qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics.
  
  On May 24, 2022, Gilgeous-Alexander was one of fourteen players to agree to a three-year commitment to play with the national team, aiming to break a decades-long trend of failing to qualify for the Olympic basketball tournament. At the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Gilgeous-Alexander was the central figure on the Canadian roster, leading them on a historic deep run. On September 3, they qualified to the quarter-finals of the tournament, in the process securing a berth at the 2024 Summer Olympics, which he called "almost indescribable." The team ultimately won the bronze medal after defeating the United States in the third-place game. This was Canada's first ever World Cup medal, and first medal at a major global tournament since the 1936 Summer Olympics. In recognition of his individual play, Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the World Cup All-Tournament Team. For both this and his feats in the NBA in 2023, he received the Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year and the Lionel Conacher Award as the Canadian Press ' choice for Canadian male athlete of the year. Gilgeous-Alexander was only the second basketball player to receive the two honours, in both cases after Steve Nash.
  
  He was named to Canada's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. After a strong unbeaten performance in the group stage, which was deemed the "group of death" by experts, Canada was surprisingly eliminated in the quarterfinals by hosts France. Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the tournament's All-Second Team, after averaging 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game.