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At the last FIBA World Cup, Team USA finished seventh. A young, athletic, and talented roster — but one with no
international experience — will take the court for USA Basketball starting Aug. 26 and try to put America back on the gold medal podium (the USA won gold at the two World Cups before Spain took the last one).
If you’ve got questions about the World Cup, we’ve got answers. Here are all the details.
Where and when is the World Cup being played?
The 2023 FIBA World Cup takes place from Aug. 25 through Sept. 10 with games in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. All of Team USA’s games will be played in Manilla.
When does Team USA play? How do I watch?
All of Team USA’s games throughout the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN2 and available on the network’s streaming services, which will carry all of the tournament’s games. Here is Team USA’s Group C schedule, with times listed as Eastern:
• New Zealand, Saturday, Aug. 26 (8:40 a.m.)
• Greece, Monday, Aug. 28 (8:40 a.m.)
• Jordan, Wednesday, Aug. 30 (4:40 a.m.)
The full schedule of games can be found by following this link.
What is the World Cup Format?
FIBA has found a way to make a simple idea complex, as they so often do. We will try to be clear.
There are 32 teams from around the globe participating in the World Cup. They have been divided into eight groups of four and will play the first round of group games against those teams (the USA faces New Zealand, a Greek squad without Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jordan).
Then things veer from what we are used to. The top two finishers in each group (16 teams total) advance to a second group phase made up of four groups of four, where teams play the top two teams from another group. The team’s record from the first round rolls over to the second round of group play. To use the USA as an example, if they go 3-0 in the first round of group play they advance to take on the top two teams from Group D (made up of Egypt, Mexico, Lithuania and Montenegro). The USA’s 3-0 first-round record would be added to how they do in the two second-round games to give it a five-game record.
The top two teams from those four second-round groups advance to an eight-team, traditional knockout-style tournament. That is how the champion is crowned.
How many NBA players are there in the World Cup?
The final tally is 56. Here’s how it breaks out by country:
USA (12): Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cameron Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves
Australia (9): Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle, Jack White
Canada (7): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell
Germany (4): Franz Wagner, Dennis Schröder, Moritz Wagner, Daniel Theis
Serbia (4): Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Jović, Aleksej Pokuševski, Filip Petrušev
France (3): Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier
Spain (2): Santi Aldama, Usman Garuba
Dominican Republic (2): Karl-Anthony Towns, Lester Quinones
Georgia (2): Goga Bitadze, Sandro Mamukelashvili
Slovenia (1): Luka Dončić
Italy (1): Simone Fontecchio
Philippines (1): Jordan Clarkson
China (1): Kyle Anderson
South Sudan (1): Carlik Jones
Greece (1): Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Lithuania (1): Jonas Valanciunas
Montenegro (1): Nikola Vucevic
Finland (1): Lauri Markkanen
Japan (1): Yuta Watanabe
Latvia (1): Davis Bertans
What is the latest Team USA news?
As the squad awaits its first game, Anthony Edwards — who has emerged as the go-to player and top scorer on this roster — said coach Steve Kerr’s original plan, before training camp got rolling, was to have Edwards come off the bench in a microwave scorer role. Edwards was not down with that. Via Joe Vardon of The Athletic:
“I mean, of course I wasn’t cool with it. If that’s what it takes, I mean, I am willing to do it, but nah, I’m never cool with that… (Kerr) said ‘Dwyane Wade came off the bench when Kobe (Bryant) played.’ I was like, ‘all right, we don’t have a Kobe, but all right.’”
By the second USA scrimmage at its Las Vegas training camp, it was clear Edwards had to start. The bench still has been a strong suit for the USA, thanks to Tyrese Haliburton and Austin Reaves (both of whom closed a tight game against Germany a few days back — with Edwards on the court as well).
