Every Toronto Raptors player competing in the 2024 Olympic Games

The 2024 Summer Olympics are being held this summer in Paris, France, the first time the City of Light will be hosting the summer games since 1924. It also brings the summer games back to Europe, a somewhat central location for the world's basketball culture.

That is largely why so many NBA players are showing up to represent their teams in the Olympics, including a positively star-studded Team USA roster consisting of titanic all-time players such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Teams around the world are also stocked with talent, with every team boasting at least one player who played in the NBA last season, and teams such as Canada and Australia are filled to the brim with NBA talent.

While in soccer / football the World Cup is the premier event, and the Olympics often play second fiddle, it's the opposite in basketball. For both the men's and women's competitions it's the Olympics that are the pinnacle of international play, and the best players in the world show up.

Depending on how you rank the Top 10 players in the NBA, as many as nine will be competing in the Olympics this year: (in no particular order) Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with both Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards reasonable candidates for the 10th spot. That doesn't even include Rudy Gobert, who won Defensive Player of the Year last season, or Victor Wembanyama, who may be a Top 10 player as early as next season.

As Toronto fans tune into the Summer Olympics and the top tier of men's basketball, who should they be watching?

List of Toronto Raptors Olympians

It will be relatively simple for Toronto Raptors fans looking to root for their players in the Paris Olympics: just watch Team Canada.

Team Canada is packed to the brim with NBA players; 10 of their 12 players are currently under contract in the league, including MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and playoff star Jamal Murray. While their best players are in the backcourt, they have a deep enough team to challenge any team in the field, and last year beat Team USA to secure the bronze medal at the World Cup.

Two Raptors players will suit up for Team Canada, and both may even start. RJ Barrett is a longtime Team Canada veteran on the wing, and Kelly Olynyk is a stretch-big and a key player at Canada's thinnest position. His ability to get hot from outside will be crucial to Canada reaching its ceiling and securing another medal.

It's possible that Scottie Barnes is in play for a future Team USA squad as the old vets age out, and Ulrich Chomche could perhaps be a part of Team Cameroon competing if they qualify out of Africa and Chomche develops well. As is, however, just two Raptors are playing in Paris.

Former Toronto Raptors competing in 2024 Paris Olympics

If there are only two current players on Olympic rosters, what about former players?

Team Canada has one such player to watch in Khem Birch, who played center for Toronto for multiple seasons before he was traded to San Antonio in the Jakob Poeltl deal. Spain has two former players of their own in Juancho Hernangomez and Lorenzo Brown who both had brief stints in Toronto.

The "brief stops" theme continues, as France's Nando De Colo is a European legend who briefly suited up for the Raptors. Yuta Watanabe is one of two NBA players competing for Japan and played for Toronto early in his career. Dennis Schroder is the top scorer for a Germany team that won the World Cup and could medal in Paris, and he started at point guard last year when the Raptors thought they were competing for a playoff spot.

The name best known to Raptors fans may be Bruno Caboclo, a former first-round pick who was famously described by analyst Fran Fraschilla as being "two years away from being two years away." He spent four seasons in Toronto and never figured it out in the NBA, but he has emerged as a star in Europe and is the best player on a Brazil team that defeated a talented Latvia team in Latvia to qualify for Paris.

Kawhi Leonard would have been the most prominent Toronto alumni competing in the Olympics, but he was sent home from Team USA practices after he was deemed not to be 100 percent after his most recent injury.

When to Watch Team Canada

Team Canada is both the national team to root for in the eyes of most Toronto fans as residents of Canada, and the way to best support Raptors players in Paris. When do they play?

Canada is in the ultra-competitive Group A, so they will be fighting with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, Australia and longtime powerhouse Spain to reach the knockout stage. Their first game is July 27th at 3:00 PM ET against Greece.

Game 2 comes at 7:30 AM ET on July 30th, and they will wrap up group play on August 2nd at 11:15 AM ET against Spain. The knockout stage will begin on August 6th.