The effect of excellent Canadian basketball coaching goes far beyond the country’s borders and a perfect example is Isaac Bonga, the German-born swingman who has landed a spot on the Raptors’ opening-night roster.
The 21-year-old has been tutored by two of the Canada’s most accomplished coaches in his young career, each of whom played a tremendous role in getting him to the NBA and now allowing him to remain in the league.
As a teenager in Germany, one of Bonga’s first professional coaches was Gordie Herbert, a former Canadian national team member and associate head coach with Nick Nurse in Olympic qualifying, and now head coach of the German national team.