Some of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 best basketball players are coming to British Columbia this summer when the menB次元官网网址檚 national team plays a doubleheader against China in the Pacific Rim Basketball Classic next month.

ItB次元官网网址檚 been eight years since B.C. hosted an international competition that included the senior menB次元官网网址檚 basketball team, and fans will get two opportunities to see some of the countryB次元官网网址檚 biggest and brightest stars play in Vancouver on June 22 and in Victoria on June 24.

ICYMI -- TEAM CANADA 馃嚚馃嚘 TO FACE CHINA 馃嚚馃嚦 IN INAUGURAL PACIFIC RIM BASKETBALL CLASSIC. Read more: or

B次元官网网址� Canada Basketball (@CanBball)

B次元官网网址淪ome of the fondest memories of my basketball career are from all the years I spent playing and coaching in British Columbia,B次元官网网址� said Jay Triano, coach of the Senior MenB次元官网网址檚 National Team.

B次元官网网址淰ancouver and Victoria have some of the most passionate basketball fans in the country and weB次元官网网址檙e excited to bring our team back to the West Coast.B次元官网网址�

Triano played at Simon Fraser University from 1977-1981, before coaching at his alma mater from 1988-1995. He has spent much of the past 16 years coaching in the NBA with Toronto, Portland and Phoenix.

The two-game event will help the Canadian national team prepare to qualify for the upcoming FIBA basketball world cup, where the 2019 edition will see the top seven teams automatically qualify for the next Olympic Games.

Canada Basketball also announced the list of 18 players that will form the roster for the qualifying games. The list includes NBA players like Kelly Olynyk of the Miami Heat and Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, plus players from Europe and the NBA G League.

The most notable player not on the list is Andrew Wiggins, who was picked first overall in the 2014 NBA draft and went on to win rookie of the year with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Tickets start at $20 for the Rogers Arena game in Vancouver and go on sale to the general public Thursday, May 31, at 10:00 a.m. Tickets for the Victoria game, at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre will also go on sale at the same time.

- With files from Canadian Press

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