Record 55 NBA Players to compete in 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup
The tournament will feature a record 106 combined current NBA players, NBA draftees, and players with NBA experience, up from 103 in 2019.
Published : Aug 25, 2023 20:10 IST - 2 MINS READ
File Photo: Luka Doncic of Slovenia is one of the 10 former NBA All-Stars in the national team rosters. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
A record 55 current NBA players are featured on national team rosters for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, which will be held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from Friday, August 25 – Sunday, September 10, up from 54 in 2019.
The tournament will feature a record 106 combined current NBA players, NBA draftees, and players with NBA experience, up from 103 in 2019.
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Twenty-seven of the 32 participating national teams have at least one current NBA player, NBA draftee or a player with NBA experience, and national team rosters include 10 former NBA All-Stars
NBA All-Star players on national team rosters
Outside of the United States, which features a tournament-high 12 NBA players, Australia has the most current NBA players (nine), followed by Canada (seven) and Germany (four).
Additional NBA stats and storylines for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 include:
- Twenty-four NBA teams are represented on national team rosters, with the Orlando Magic, Jazz, Thunder and Timberwolves each featuring a league-high five players in the tournament, while the New York Knicks and Mavericks each have four players in the tournament.
- There are 54 players with NBA G League experience on national team rosters.
- The tournament features 16 players who have participated over the first three seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), including 2023 BAL MVP Nuni Omot, who led Al Ahly (Egypt) to the 2023 BAL Championship after helping his native South Sudan qualify for the country’s first-ever appearance in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The BAL is a professional league operated by the NBA and FIBA that features 12 club teams from across Africa and completed its third season in May 2023.
- Australia National Team and former NBA Global Academy teammates Josh Giddey (Thunder) and Dyson Daniels (Pelicans), current NBA Academy Africa student-athlete Khaman Maluach (South Sudan), NBA Global Academy graduate Cui Yongxi (China) and NBA Academy Latin.
America participant Jean Montero (Dominican Republic) are poised to become the first current and former NBA Academy student-athletes to compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
- There are 87 former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) campers on national team rosters. BWB is the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program that has been conducted annually since 2001 and has seen 112 former campers advance to the NBA or WNBA.
*As of August 25, 2023 (all rosters subject to change)