Men's basketball

Representing Canada
FIBA World Cup
Bronze	2023 Philippines–Japan–Indonesia
FIBA AmeriCup
Bronze	2015 Mexico City
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Bronze	2008 Formosa

Kelly Olynyk, born on April 19, 1991, is a Canadian professional basketball player. He currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before joining the NBA, he played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. In 2013, he was recognized as an NCAA All-American for his excellent performance.

After his college career, Kelly Olynyk was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2013 NBA draft. He was the 13th player picked overall. Soon after, he was traded to the Boston Celtics. He played for the Celtics until 2017. Later, he joined the Miami Heat in 2017 and helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2020. He then played for the Houston Rockets in 2021, the Detroit Pistons from 2021 to 2022, and the Utah Jazz from 2022 to 2024. In 2024, he moved to the Toronto Raptors, then to the New Orleans Pelicans in early 2025, and finally to the San Antonio Spurs in July 2025. Kelly Olynyk is also the captain of the Canadian national team.

Early Life and Basketball Beginnings
High School Basketball Journey
College Career at Gonzaga
Professional Basketball Career
Playing for Team Canada
Career Statistics
Personal Life and Family
See also

Early Life and Basketball Beginnings

Kelly Olynyk was born in Toronto, Canada. He started playing basketball when he was very young. He played on a club team called the Scarborough Blues with another future NBA player, Cory Joseph. Their team was very strong and rarely lost games. One time, they played against a team led by Stephen Curry and lost.

When Kelly was in grade 7, his family moved to Kamloops, British Columbia.

High School Basketball Journey

Kelly Olynyk chose to stay in Canada for high school. He attended South Kamloops Secondary School instead of going to a school in the United States. However, he still played against U.S. teams and coaches. He played on provincial teams and the Canadian junior national team. This helped him get noticed by U.S. colleges.

Kelly started as a point guard, even though he grew very tall. In grade 11, he grew from 6 feet 3 inches (1.90 meters) to 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 meters)! Many top colleges, like Syracuse, wanted him to play for them. He chose Gonzaga because it was closer to his home.

In his final year of high school, Kelly was named the best high school player in British Columbia. He led his South Kamloops Titans team to an amazing 36 wins and only 2 losses. They finished third in the BC AAA High School Boys' Basketball Championships. Kelly also played quarterback for his high school football team. He broke his arm during a playoff game in 2007.

College Career at Gonzaga

Olynyk playing for Gonzaga

Kelly Olynyk played college basketball for the Gonzaga team from 2009 to 2013. In his first two years, he mostly played off the bench for about 12 to 13 minutes per game. To get better and stronger, Kelly and Gonzaga decided he would "redshirt" his junior year (2011–12). This meant he would practice with the team but not play in games.

Kelly returned to the team for the 2012–13 season. He had an amazing year! He was chosen as a Consensus First-Team All-American. He was also named to the 2012–13 Academic All-America first team for his good grades. After this great season, he decided to enter the NBA draft. He had already earned his bachelor's degree in accounting.

Professional Basketball Career

Boston Celtics (2013–2017)

In the 2013 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks picked Kelly Olynyk as the 13th overall player. But he was immediately traded to the Boston Celtics. In July 2013, he signed his first contract with the Celtics.

In his first year, Kelly played well, averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team. In December 2014, he scored a career-high 30 points in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. In 2015, he injured his ankle and missed 18 games. During the 2015 NBA playoffs, he was involved in an incident where Kevin Love injured his shoulder.

Kelly missed the first game of the 2015–16 season because of a suspension related to the Kevin Love incident. In December 2015, he scored 28 points in a close game against the Golden State Warriors. He later missed 12 games due to a shoulder injury.

In the 2016–17 season, Kelly missed the first six games after having shoulder surgery. He returned in November 2016. In January 2017, he scored 26 points against the Atlanta Hawks. In Game 7 of the playoffs against the Washington Wizards, he scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. This helped the Celtics win and reach the Eastern Conference Finals. In July 2017, he became a free agent and left the Celtics.

Miami Heat (2017–2021)

On July 7, 2017, Kelly Olynyk signed a four-year contract with the Miami Heat. In his first game for the Heat, he scored 10 points. In December 2017, he scored a new career-high of 32 points against his old team, the Boston Celtics. In March 2018, he scored 30 points coming off the bench. He also had a career-high 10 assists in another game.

In February 2020, Kelly had 12 points and a new career-high of 11 assists against the Golden State Warriors. He helped the Heat reach the 2020 NBA Finals, where they played against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat lost the series in six games.

Houston Rockets (2021)

On March 25, 2021, Kelly Olynyk was traded to the Houston Rockets. He played his first game for the Rockets on March 27, scoring 16 points. In April, he had a season-high 28 points, along with nine rebounds and five assists.

Detroit Pistons (2021–2022)

On August 6, 2021, Kelly Olynyk signed a three-year contract with the Detroit Pistons. In November, he injured his knee during a game. Doctors said he had a grade 2 MCL sprain, which meant he would be out for at least six weeks.

Utah Jazz (2022–2024)

On September 26, 2022, Kelly Olynyk was traded to the Utah Jazz. In October, he scored 20 points, including the winning shot, in a close game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Toronto Raptors (2024–2025)

On February 8, 2024, Kelly Olynyk was traded to the Toronto Raptors. He also signed a two-year contract extension with the Raptors in March 2024.

New Orleans Pelicans (2025)

On February 6, 2025, the Raptors traded Kelly Olynyk to the New Orleans Pelicans. He played 20 games for the Pelicans, averaging 10.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. In April 2025, he had surgery on his left heel.

San Antonio Spurs (2025–present)

On July 6, 2025, Kelly Olynyk was part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Washington Wizards. Just three days later, on July 9, 2025, he was traded again to the San Antonio Spurs. He is currently playing for the Spurs.

Playing for Team Canada

Kelly Olynyk has been an important player for the Canadian national team. In July 2019, he was part of the team's training camp. However, he had to leave after getting injured in a game against Nigeria.

In May 2022, Kelly committed to playing for the Canadian senior men's national team for three years. He was named captain of Canada's team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Career Statistics

Kelly Olynyk has played many games in the NBA. Here are some of his statistics:

NBA Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2013–14	Boston	70	9	20.0	.466	.351	.811	5.2	1.6	.5	.4	8.7
2014–15	Boston	64	13	22.2	.475	.349	.684	4.7	1.7	1.0	.6	10.3
2015–16	Boston	69	8	20.2	.455	.405	.750	4.1	1.5	.8	.5	10.0
2016–17	Boston	75	6	20.5	.512	.354	.732	4.8	2.0	.6	.4	9.0
2017–18	Miami	76	22	23.4	.497	.379	.770	5.7	2.7	.8	.5	11.5
2018–19	Miami	79	36	22.9	.463	.354	.822	4.7	1.8	.7	.5	10.0
2019–20	Miami	67	9	19.4	.462	.406	.860	4.6	1.7	.7	.3	8.2
2020–21	Miami	43	38	26.9	.431	.317	.775	6.1	2.1	.9	.6	10.0
2020–21	Houston	27	24	31.1	.545	.392	.835	8.4	4.1	1.4	.6	19.0
2021–22	Detroit	40	1	19.1	.448	.336	.775	4.4	2.8	.8	.5	9.1
2022–23	Utah	68	68	28.6	.499	.394	.853	6.2	3.7	.9	.5	12.5
2023–24	Utah	50	8	20.4	.562	.429	.842	5.1	4.4	.7	.2	8.1
2023–24	Toronto	28	19	26.4	.548	.338	.824	5.6	4.6	1.3	.6	12.7
2024–25	Toronto	24	2	16.0	.500	.442	.791	3.7	2.3	.7	.3	7.1
2024–25	New Orleans	20	20	25.4	.500	.389	.754	5.9	3.6	.9	.6	10.7
Career		800	285	22.5	.486	.371	.796	5.2	2.5	.8	.5	10.2

NBA Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015	Boston	4	0	13.3	.538	.500	.500	1.3	.5	.5	.5	4.5
2016	Boston	4	0	8.0	.111	.000	–	1.0	.8	.3	.0	.5
2017	Boston	18	2	19.2	.512	.319	.733	3.2	1.9	.7	.8	9.2
2018	Miami	5	0	29.2	.477	.421	.700	4.6	3.8	1.4	1.2	12.8
2020	Miami	17	0	15.2	.474	.347	.821	4.6	1.1	.2	.5	7.6
Career		48	2	17.4	.483	.347	.750	3.5	1.6	.6	.6	7.9

College Statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2009–10	Gonzaga	34	0	12.3	.500	.222	.596	2.7	0.8	0.5	0.1	3.8
2010–11	Gonzaga	35	4	13.5	.574	.444	.618	3.8	0.7	0.3	0.1	5.8
2011–12	Gonzaga	Redshirt
2012–13	Gonzaga	32	27	26.4	.629	.300	.776	7.3	1.7	0.7	1.1	17.8
Career		101	31	17.2	.594	.333	.709	4.6	1.1	0.5	0.5	8.9

Personal Life and Family

Kelly Olynyk's family has a strong connection to basketball. His father, Ken, was a head basketball coach at the University of Toronto. He also coached the Canadian junior men's national team. Interestingly, he once cut future Canadian basketball star Steve Nash from the junior national team.

Kelly's mother, Arlene, was a basketball referee in Canadian university sports. From 1995 to 2004, she worked for the Toronto Raptors as the first female NBA scorekeeper. In 2003, Kelly's father became the athletic director at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. The rest of the family soon joined him there.

Kelly has two sisters, Jesse and Maya. Jesse has represented Canada in both wrestling and rugby. Maya played university basketball. Kelly's family originally comes from Slovenia.

Kelly Olynyk also had a small role in the Netflix show Running Point. He played a basketball player who made a winning shot at the last second.

Kelly Olynyk facts for kids

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