'You just know': Canadian wheelchair basketball legend Patrick Anderson retires at 45

One of the most decorated Canadian basketball players of all time has retired.

Patrick Anderson, who led the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team to three Paralympic gold medals and a silver, says last year's Paralympic Games in Paris was his last.

"You just know," the 45-year-old from Fergus, Ont., said in a news release. "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.

"It's been an honour to do it for a long time."

Anderson has been called the Michael Jordan of wheelchair basketball.

He was one of Canada's flag-bearers for the opening ceremonies in Paris. He scored 31 points and had 11 rebounds in the bronze-medal game that Canada lost to Germany.

Anderson said a successful 2024 season helped in his decision to retire.

He moved his family to Spain, where he played professionally in Bilbao, as Canada prepared for an Olympic qualifying repechage tournament. At the last-chance qualifier in Antibes, France, Anderson led Canada in a 72-60 victory over Italy to cement a spot at the Paralympic Games.

"It was a near-perfect year, the last one with the team," said Anderson. "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."

Key role in 2006 world title win

Born in Edmonton and raised in Fergus, Anderson discovered wheelchair basketball after he was struck by a car at age nine and his lower legs were amputated below the knee.

He joined the senior Canadian men's team in 1998 and helped Canada to a bronze medal at that year's world championships. He added another bronze in 2002 before playing a key role in Canada's gold-medal triumph in 2006.

At the collegiate level, he was a standout for the University of Illinois from 1998 to 2001, capturing three national titles.

He played professionally in Australia, Germany and Turkey. He was named the most valuable player of the Australian National Wheelchair Basketball League in 2003. He led German club RSV Lahn-Dill to three consecutive European Champions Cup victories from 2004-06.

Before spending the 2024 season in Spain, Anderson played eight seasons with the New York Rollin' Knicks, winning four National Wheelchair Basketball Association titles.

Anderson is now helping Canada's next generation of basketball players as a skills coach and intends to launch a wheelchair basketball program in his hometown of Fergus.

"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 of coaching. "With wheelchair basketball, you have to get good at training by yourself and in small groups — I have decades of experience doing that."