(Basketball news) The last time the US attended a FIBA World Cup, it finished last out of the 18 international tournaments it has played with a complete roster of NBA players. The United States fell to France in the 2019 World Cup quarterfinals in China after going 5-0 in pool play, snapping a string of 58 games in which they have defeated an NBA team. The Americans then fell to Serbia in the round of teams 5-8 classification before defeating Poland in the match for seventh place.
The United States is attempting to avenge that performance four years later. For the 2023 World Cup, though, it is sending an even less qualified team to the Philippines.
No Senior-level experience:
Some of the athletes competing in the 2023 World Cup were a part of select teams that trained against the Senior Team before of a match. Additionally, some of them have competed at the Junior (19 and under) level for the United States. However, none of the 12 have ever competed at the Senior level for the United States. As a result, this is the first National Team of the United States made up of NBA players without prior Senior-level experience.
No All-NBA Player:
This is also the first of the 18 NBA-player U.S. National Teams in which no players were chosen for an All-NBA team in the previous season. This year, five of them—Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and Mikal Bridges—received votes for the All-NBA team, but none of them came close to making the third team.
Kemba Walker, who was third-team All-NBA in 2018–19, was a member of that 2019 squad. Similarly, the 2021 Olympic team only had one second-team All-NBA selection Damian Lillard, despite having Kevin Durant, who only appeared in 35 games in 2020–21.
More international athletes are competing for All-NBA positions these days. All 12 members of the 1996 American Olympic squad were All-NBA picks. The Dream Team consisted of nine players, with the exceptions of Christian Laettner (who wasn’t in the NBA), Magic Johnson (who didn’t play in 1991–1992), and Larry Bird (who was in his final season).
Not the youngest team:
However, this U.S. National Team is not the youngest. When the World Cup begins, these 12 players will be on average 25.2 years old. The average age of the teams for the 2004 Olympic Games 24.1, 2014 World Cup 24.4, and 2006 World Championship 25.0 was all lower. Two of those three teams finished in second place.
The only teams with less NBA experience than this one, which has an average of just 4.2 years, are the 2004 Olympic team 3.6 years and the 2014 World Cup team 3.8 years. On this 2023 roster, five players have no more than three seasons in the NBA.
Not a lot of top-line talent:
Paolo Banchero, the current Kia Rookie of the Year and No. 1 pick in the 2017 Draft, is one of the five inexperienced men. With three other players that were selected in the top five of the draft Edwards, 1, Brandon Ingram, 2, and Jackson, 4 this club does have some quality.
But there are also a ton of role players there. Since being selected 33rd overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, Jalen Brunson has developed into a star, but other low picks Josh Hart, Walker Kessler, and Bobby Portis aren’t at the same caliber. Ben Wallace, 2002 World Championship and Brad Miller are the only other undrafted players to play for one of these 18 U.S. Teams with NBA players. Austin Reaves is the third.
Also read: Team USA asserts over Puerto Rico in the opening World Cup practice match
