FIBA just released its latest rankings for all of the men's basketball teams in the world, and in a totally surprising move, the Association has named Spain as the top team on the planet. The Spanish national squad has now outranked Team USA, who themselves fell to second in the latest rankings. Unsurprisingly, this prompted quite a reaction from USA Basketball.
USA Basketball quickly took to Twitter to share its savage three-word reaction to this recent development:
USA Basketball seems to be feeling a bit aggrieved by the fact that this is the first time another country has been ranked higher than Team USA since the early 2000s. They weren't shy about letting their true feelings known about it, and they went full savage by throwing a bit of shade on both FIBA and their Spanish counterparts.
To be fair, Spain is coming off a EuroBasket title this summer, which makes them one of the hottest teams in the world right now. FIBA clearly thinks that this team has done enough over the past few years to deserve the top spot in the rankings.
It is worth noting that there were no changes in the rankings for spots No. 3 through 12. Australia, Argentina, and France respectively round out the Top 5.
For their part, it seems that USA Basketball is taking this as a bit of a sleight. It just feels like this is exactly the type of motivation Team USA needs heading into the 2023 World Cup next summer. You can be sure that the squad will have these rankings in mind the next time they get an opportunity to face off against Spain on the court.