The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup has begun, but plenty of star players are missing from national team rosters. A number of Americans–notably the likes of Anthony Davis, LeBron James and others–made it known that they would not be playing for Team USA this summer. Appearing on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” on Wednesday, NBA legend and two-time MVP Steve Nash lashed out at Canadian players who skipped out on playing for the Canadian national team this summer (via Yahoo! Sports).
Nash said that he loves the current generation of basketball stars but noted that “workout culture” lacks creativity and imagination, while also stating that the international experience is far more challenging than a standard summer pick-up game with NBA players.
“By the way, how about getting a chance to play in a game that matters. In the summertime. S—, if my country loses – if we don't lock down and get a stop here, my country loses,” Nash said.
Whereas Nash was certainly invoking a sense of national pride, ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski expressed a belief that, for many players, the World Cup simply does not carry as much weight as The Olympic Games:
The FIBA Basketball World Cup held their inaugural season in 1950, though the sheer lack of star power has made it less of a spectacle in recent years.
Whereas The Olympic Games do tend to draw the very best players in the game to the international stage, the World Cup has not had that kind of impact.
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