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It was an evening that doubled as a celebration and interrogation of the state of Canada Basketball. And it yielded some informative and humorous moments.

– The first panel was on Toronto’s evolution as a basketball city, and featured a pair of adversaries: Rautins, the former Canadian men’s national team coach and longtime Raptors colour commentator, and Ro Russell, the co-founder of Toronto-based AAU program Grassroots Canada Basketball. “It took courage to sit between these guys and make sure everything was peaceful,” said Mike George, a former AAU coach who is now the player agent for Anthony Bennett and Tyler Ennis. Rautins was very critical of Russell and the entire AAU system in a CBC program that led to Russell leaving his job at the Christian Faith Center Academy in North Carolina. (This is a fuller breakdown of the story.) The two seemed friendly enough on Monday, with Russell even praising Rautins’ efforts to unite the AAU circuit and Canada Basketball. “When Leo first got the job, I was one of the first people he called to say, ‘Hey, bro, I got the job, can we get some kids at St. Mike’s for a tryout. … Before, [young players] felt there was too much politics and they weren’t being seen.”

– Rautins said some of his comments were misrepresented in the past. His general message was that AAU prioritized efforts to get players seen by scouts and coaches over skill development. “The misconception is I don’t like the AAU program. That’s garbage. I think the kids get to play against great players. … The one thing I preached was balance.” In a way, that marriage was portrayed as a potential identity of Canadian basketball. “I think Canada is in a unique place where maybe we can mix AAU basketball, where it doesn’t stain the youth as much, with the European development of talent,” Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri said. “This is the place where that could happen.”