FIBA has changed its World Cup qualifying schedule, and the U.S. Men's Basketball Team will look very different as a result.
This doesn't mean that our NBA players will no longer participate in Olympics competition, but it has forced the NBA's hand due to a conflict of schedule.
The World Cup generally consisted of tournament games during the summer, but not each competing region has time format throughout the year. That means the games will be played in concert with the NBA season schedule.
A six-member U.S. selection committee announced Tuesday that they will choose NBA Development League players to participate in the tournament in order to qualify for the 2019 Basketball World Cup.
Assuming the U.S. qualifies, Team USA will resume with the usual roster selection of NBA players along with Coach Gregg Popovich in September 2019 in Tokyo.
USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley released a statement about the new opportunity for NBA D-League players.
“This will be an excellent opportunity for NBA D-League players to showcase their talent and experience meaningful and important international competition while representing the United States.”
During the time of qualification, NBA players will not be allowed to participate in the games. That not only includes U.S. players, but players from other regions of the world as well such as Andrew Wiggins, Rudy Gobert, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Marc Gasol.
Not having the best possible players in the games means the U.S. team will be severely weakened against international competition, but it won't prevent them from qualifying.
The Americas will have a total of seven countries representing in the World Cup games and the U.S. should be one of them. With a total of four groups Africa, Americas, Europe, and Asia/Oceania, the U.S. team only needs to finish in the top 3 within their group.
The qualifying dates are below:
- Nov. 20-28, 2017
- Feb. 19-27, 2018
- June 25 – July 3, 2018
- Aug. 30 – Sept. 8, 2018
- Nov. 26 – Dec. 4, 2018
- Feb. 18-28, 2019
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