Wheelchair basketball great Patrick Anderson announces retirement
Three-time Paralympic wheelchair basketball champion Patrick Anderson has announced his retirement from Team Canada 26 Mar 2025
Wheelchair basketball legend Patrick Anderson has announced his retirement from the national team after representing Canada at six Paralympic Games.
Anderson is a three-time Paralympic gold medallist and a 2008 silver medallist. Most recently, he represented Canada at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, playing a key role in the team’s best finish in 12 years.
“You just know. Deep down when the elastic band snaps and you’re like, ‘You know what, it’s just not in me anymore to put in the blood, sweat and tears to represent Canada at the highest level’,” the 45-year-old athlete told Wheelchair Basketball Canada.
“It’s been an honour to do it for a long time.”
Six Paralympic Games
Anderson made his Paralympic debut at Sydney 2000, helping Canada win its first wheelchair basketball gold medal. The team was unbeaten at Athens 2004 and finished with a silver medal at Beijing 2008.
He once again led Canada to Paralympic gold at London 2012, where he led the tournament in scoring.
Six months after competing at Paris 2024, his sixth Games, Anderson admitted the highs of the 2024 season helped cement his decision to retire from the national team.
In preparation for the Men’s IWBF Repechage Tournament, Anderson moved his family to Spain, where he played professionally in Bilbao. At the last-chance qualifier in Antibes, France, he paced Team Canada in a thrilling 72-60 victory over Italy to earn a spot at the Paralympic Games.
“It was a near-perfect year, the last one with the team,” Anderson said. “From deciding to go with my wife and kids to Spain to prepare for the qualifier, going to the qualifier and squeaking through in such dramatic, exciting fashion.
“Then hitting a wave and riding it through Paris – even though we came just short of our goal to win a medal, I looked around the room afterwards, and we were proud of ourselves. We had that great run that we’d been trying for since I came back in 2017 and hadn’t been able to put it together.”
Anderson carried the Canadian flag at the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony. At Bercy Arena, he paced Canada with a double-double in the bronze medal game but the team came up just short against Germany.
“I said before the Paris Games that it would be my last run, so the relative success we had isn’t why I’m retiring now, but it certainly confirmed my feeling about it after the Games were done that I really meant it,” Anderson explained.
Celebrating an incredible career
Born in Edmonton and raised in Fergus, Anderson discovered wheelchair basketball after a life-changing accident in 1989 that resulted in the loss of both legs below the knee. Anderson’s journey in the sport began with the Twin City Spinners under the guidance of coach Jeff Penner.
He made his international debut with Canada’s Junior National Team, leading the squad to back-to-back Under-23 World Championship titles in 1997 and 2001—earning tournament MVP honours on both occasions.
In 1998, Anderson transitioned to the Senior Men’s National Team, helping Canada secure a bronze medal at the World Championships. He added another bronze in 2002 before playing a key role in Canada’s gold-medal triumph in 2006.
Anderson’s professional career took him around the world, competing in leagues in Australia, Germany and Turkiye. In 2003, he was named MVP of the Australian National Wheelchair Basketball League, and from 2004 to 2006, he led German club RSV Lahn-Dill to three consecutive European Champions Cup victories.
Before spending the 2024 season in Spain, Anderson played eight seasons with the New York Rolling Knicks, winning four National Championships.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game, three-time Paralympic gold medalist Patrick Anderson has officially announced his retirement from Team Canada.
— Wheelchair Basketball Canada (@WCBballCanada) March 24, 2025
Full story: https://t.co/mwhPNwMxZM#TeamCanada | #Wheelchairbasketball pic.twitter.com/nwFnfHgk6S
Looking back on his international career, a few moments shine above the rest.
“I think it’s hard not to see London as a pinnacle partly because it was the end of the run with a pretty special generation of players and coaches. Also, I feel like I played my best games in the biggest games, so I feel a sense of personal satisfaction looking back on that,” said Anderson.
“Beijing, in its own way, stands out, not a high, but after I stepped away and licked my wounds, it clarified my focus going into London 2012. It helped me understand what I wanted to do differently going forward as long as I represent Team Canada.”
Despite its unique format, the 2024 Last Chance Qualifier in Antibes is a moment Anderson will cherish as he heads into retirement.
“As weird as that qualification format was, it was such an exciting, special moment. It was one of the pure thrills and highs that I experienced,” Anderson added.
Giving back to the game
Throughout his career, which saw him play provincially with Team Ontario and on teams such as the BC Cable Cars, Anderson crossed paths with many great teammates who became life-long friends.
“I played with so many over the years, including some of the best ever to play. Too many great players and people to name,” Anderson said. “I was the kid when I started, and the older guys were great big brothers. Always generous with me and gracious about the limelight. In recent years, it’s been fun to get to know a whole new generation of players and to try to show them the same support and respect that the veterans showed me.
“The wheelchair basketball community in Canada has had my back since Day 1. From the clubs to the PSOs to WBC and its leadership and partners.”
As Anderson embarks on the next chapter of his career, he’s giving back to the game while working with Team Canada’s NextGen athletes.
Currently, the Men’s Under-23 Team is gearing up for the Americas Championship, and Anderson is providing athletes with skills coaching.
“It’ll be a little bit of tactical feedback about how I read the game and advice on how to build out the technical part of their game,” Anderson said.
“With wheelchair basketball, you have to get good at training by yourself and in small groups – I have decades of experience doing that. That’s the difference between good and great players – one who can put in the time, work hard, and focus on their own between camps, practices, and games. I’m trying to help them at this stage of their career – give them some ideas and try to make the most of their time alone in the gym.”
Additionally, Anderson is preparing to help launch a wheelchair basketball program in his hometown of Fergus. The program will begin with a 3×3 tournament and a house league over the summer.
Read more on the Wheelchair Basketball Canada website
