The 2019 FIBA World Cup in China saw a Spanish team win top honors this month; a gold medal for Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio, among other NBA players. It also saw a disappointing United States men's national team, coached by Gregg Popovich, fall in the quarter-finals knockout round to France, led by the Utah Jazz's center Rudy Gobert.

Former NBA commissioner David Stern is speaking out players' decision to play in the World Cup, stating they have to choose whether to participate in the international tournament or the Summer Olympics.

Per Marc Stein in The New York Times:

“FIBA made a mistake moving the World Cup into odd years,” David Stern, the former N.B.A. commissioner, recently told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “And as a result, you are asking players to play in the FIBA world championship, play in the season and then play in the Olympics. And I think that pushed a lot of players to feel that they should make a choice between back-to-back years of international competition.”

Stern, now 76 years old and five years removed from the end of his commissionership (he was succeeded by Adam Silver), claims that FIBA's decision to change the World Cup schedule has subsequently messed up with how NBA players choose to participate with their nation's team. The NBA's offseason collided with USA Basketball's training camp and roster building ahead of the September World Cup.

Previously, the World Cup occurred two years before and after the every-four-year Summer Olympics. The next Greek games will occur in the summer of 2020 in Japan following 2016's Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's, games, which saw the U.S. win the gold medal in men's basketball.

Instead of the normal schedule, FIBA moved the World Cup from 2018 to 2019, which may have explained several NBA players—across multiple competing nations—deciding not to play this summer due to the approaching 2019-20 season. After which, there will be another opportunity for players like James Harden, Zion Williamson, and Bradley Beal to play for the U.S. at the global stage.