Canadian Selected 4th Overall in NBA Draft

With two Toronto-area natives being drafted in the first round, 2011's draft will go down as the most Canadian in NBA history.

Yesterday's National Basketball League draft featured the highest Canadian draft pick in more than half a century, with Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., going to the Cleveland Cavaliers with the fourth-overall selection. The 6' 8”, 20-year-old power forward from the University of Texas is the highest Canadian pick in the draft since 1953, when the Milwaukee Hawks picked Bob Houbregs second overall. Thompson, named the Big 12's freshman of the year, was a central figure in getting his university to the third round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Thompson's teammate from Texas, Cory Joseph of Toronto, was drafted 29th overall by the San Antonio Spurs, making it the most Canadian first round draft in NBA (or should it be NBEh?) history.