national camp are evidence of the power of the NBA in major urban centres such as Toronto, and Vancouver, where the Grizzlies only lasted for six years but sparked an uptick in hoops enthusiasm that is still pronounced, even though the team left for Memphis in 2001.

As well, changes in Canada’s immigration policies more than 30 years ago have seen the children of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean take up basketball as their sport of choice.

NBA and national team players/prospects Tristan Thompson (Brampton, Ont.), Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ont.), Cory Joseph (Pickering, Ont.), Bennett (Brampton) and Toronto’s Myck Kabongo, a guard who could go in next year’s NBA first round, all come from the greater Toronto region. Forward Levon Kendall (Vancouver) and guard Philip Scrubb (Richmond) areWASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 250 people were charged in a major U.S. crackdown on elder fraud scams that victimized over 1 million people and led to $500 million in losses, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

The scams included the use of mass mailing, telemarketing and investment frauds as well as identity theft and theft by guardians, the department said in a statement announcing the criminal and civil charges.

Some of the schemes included scams where people were falsely told they had won a lottery but had to pre-pay a fee or taxes, while in other scams a senior was told a grandchild had been arrested and needed money for bail, the department said.

Globally, 200 defendants were charged criminally and another 50 face civil or other charges, the department