Everything You Need to Know About 2023 FIBA World Cup

For American basketball fans, the biggest game in town (so to speak) is the NBA. And the Finals have been over for two months.

On the world stage, though, few (if any) tournaments rival the FIBA World Cup, which tips off on August 25 and runs through September 10.

Some of the game’s biggest international stars, including Luka Dončić, Lauri Markkanen and Rudy Gobert, will be in action. Team USA, of course, will be there too. And stateside hoops fans will be able to take in the entire competition on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Before the games get started, though, we have a primer with the most important things to know. And if you just keep scrolling, you’ll find them all.

The quickest and often most effective way to get a wide-angle view of the field is through betting odds. And FanDuel already has some for all 32 teams.

Here's everyone at +3000 or shorter.

USA: -145

NBA Players: Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cameron Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis and Austin Reaves

Key to a Title: Size (or lack thereof), but we'll talk more about that later.

Canada: +850

NBA Players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell

Key to a Title: Canada will miss Jamal Murray (who withdrew from the tournament in mid-August), but it still has loads of NBA talent headlined by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Australia: +1000

NBA Players: Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Jock Landale, Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle and Jack White

Key to a Title: Australia is deep, but there's more to it than that. It has a depth of playmaking with Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Dyson Daniels and Patty Mills, thanks to the team-first approach that's taught at lower levels there.

France: +1000

NBA Players: Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier and Frank Ntilikina

Key to a Title: Rudy Gobert has to be dominant, and not just on defense. If he can force defenses to collapse inside and give the French shooters a little extra time at the three-point line, this team will be dangerous.

Spain: +1200

NBA Players: Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba

Key to a Title: Spain doesn't have the big names or NBA talent it once did, but the infrastructure is still in place. It's sort of become the San Antonio Spurs of these international tournaments.

Serbia: +1600

NBA Players: Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Jović, Aleksej Pokuševski and Filip Petrušev

Serbia: +1400

NBA Players: Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Jović, Aleksej Pokuševski and Filip Petrušev

Key to a Title: Having Nikola Jović bow out of the tournament was a bummer for basketball fans and Serbians alike. Without him, their path to a medal is a lot trickier. Vasilije Micić, one of the best players in EuroLeague for years, is out too. But Serbia will continue to play a ball-movement-heavy style that will keep defenses off guard.

Germany: +1600

NBA Players: Franz Wagner, Dennis Schröder, Moritz Wagner and Daniel Theis

Key to a Title: Germany gave Team USA its stiffest challenge of the tuneup games before eventually giving way to an Anthony Edwards-led comeback, but their sort of Thunder (size and the Wagner brothers) and lightning (Dennis Schröder) attack could lead them to the medal stand.

Slovenia: +3000

NBA Players: Luka Dončić

Key to a Title: It's Luka Dončić, and really only Luka Dončić. Unfortunately, Vlatko Čančar tore his ACL during tune-up games, but Slovenia will still have a chance in any game for which Luka suits up. He can get 50 on any given night, and that kind of explosiveness can go a long way in international competition.

USA: -145

No surprise here. Despite not sending its “A Team,” America still boasts the most NBA talent. Every player on the roster has a spot in the league. Several of them are stars, or at least the leaders of their own teams.

And this feels like as good an opportunity as any for Anthony Edwards to take whatever his next leap is.

The 22-year-old made his first NBA All-Star team in 2023. Then he averaged 31.6 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a five-game series loss to the Denver Nuggets. Now, he figures to be the alpha scorer on what is essentially an All-Star team on one of the game’s biggest stages.

The way Edwards has seemingly relished the pressure that comes with NBA playoff basketball suggests he’ll be fine in this tournament. And if he brings that same intensity to these games, the USA is going to be tough to beat.

As the leader of a starting lineup that figures to include Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr., he should face (and presumably dominate) plenty of one-on-one matchups.

Mixing in with reserves like Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Cameron Johnson and Austin Reaves should bring similar success.

This team is deep, talented, versatile and understandably the odds-on favorite right now.

Canada: +850

Beyond the explosiveness of SGA, Canada has loads of perimeter defense from Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Some combination of those guards and wings with Kelly Olynyk’s floor spacing and underrated passing is going to make this team more than a tough out.

In fact, failing to medal with this group would feel like a pretty significant letdown.

Australia: +1000

Australia’s NBA names don’t quite the have same cachet as the USA’s, but there are more here than almost any other team has. And, as noted earlier, there are several plus passers in this group.

Australia will play a team-first game that will keep opponents off balance. And if it can get enough shooting from Patty Mills and Joe Ingles, it may be able to pull off an upset in the medal round.

There are a few potential wild cards for the medal stand who weren’t among the teams listed in the “Odds” slide. And their chances of surprising some people begin and end with their NBA All-Stars.

Finland (+50000) boasts Lauri Markkanen, who averaged 27.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in 2022's EuroBasket.

Lithuania (+5500) will be without Domantas Sabonis, but Jonas Valančiūnas will be a load for undersized teams.

And the Dominican Republic (+9500) could, at the very least, play spoiler if Karl-Anthony Towns gets hot for a few games in a row.

1. Luka Dončić, Slovenia

This is pretty obvious. Luka Dončić isn’t just the best player in this tournament, he’ll likely be in the argument for best player in the world during the 2023-24 season.

He’s entered the perennial MVP phase of his career, can score 30 with relative ease against both NBA and international defenses, reads the floor like few players in league history and is only 24 years old.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a first-team All-NBA campaign and now has a chance to show off his superstar leap for a team with legitimate championship aspirations.

With his ability to play with pace and score inside the three-point line, his game should transfer just fine to international play.

3. Lauri Markkanen, Finland

One of the most dynamic interior finishers and floor spacers in the league last season, Lauri Markkanen used 2022’s EuroBasket as a springboard to his breakout NBA campaign. Another international competition as his country’s star should offer another confidence boost.

4. Karl-Anthony Towns, Dominican Republic

Karl-Anthony Towns will be one of the best shooters in the tournament. And as the lone star for the Dominican Republic, he’ll get plenty of shots up. But his shortcomings as a defensive anchor may be more magnified under this circumstance too.

Coming off perhaps the best offensive season of his career, Kristaps Porziņģis is primed to lead Latvia toward medal contention with three-level scoring and some of the best rim protection instincts in the tournament.

5. Rudy Gobert, France

While he’s long been underrated as an offensive player (his rim-running and finishing is far more valuable than many realize), Rudy Gobert has never really been featured in the NBA like he is for France. His defense, the occasionally dominant offensive game and a strong supporting cast will have the French in the hunt for a championship.

6. Franz Wagner, Germany

Franz Wagner is one of the NBA’s more intriguing young forwards, and like many others featured here, he’s closer to the top of the pecking order on his national team. In fact, as Dennis Schröder continues to age toward 30 and possibly decline, Wagner could be the cornerstone of this team.

7. Josh Giddey, Australia

Like Edwards with Team USA, Josh Giddey has a chance to be the top dog on his team, lead it to the medal stand and take another developmental leap on one of the game’s biggest stages. His combination of size and playmaking should help the NBA-talent-laden Australian team have a chance against anyone.

8. Bogdan Bogdanović, Serbia

Bogdan Bogdanović has been a solid role player for years in the NBA. But, like many other international talents in the league, he's more of a star when suited up for his national team. In eight games during the 2019 World Cup, the playmaking, sweet-shooting wing averaged 22.9 points and shot 53.0 percent from deep. During EuroBasket in 2017, he put up 20.4 points across nine games.

9. Jordan Clarkson, Philippines

A totally unleashed Jordan Clarkson on a team devoid of other NBA players could be quite the spectacle. If he’s off, the Philippines could go down in a blaze of glory; if he’s on, we could witness some epic scoring performances.

10. Dennis Schröder, Germany

In international play, Dennis Schröder is a relentless slasher who can break the first line of defense about as well as anyone in this tournament. And while he's far from the best defender in action, you can always count on him to compete on that end.

The Big Men

As you’ve seen elsewhere in this slideshow, this tournament is loaded with talented bigs. If the NBA ever switched to a “USA vs. the World” format for the All-Star game, it’s the big men who could put the international team over the top.

At the World Cup, the 31 teams not named USA feature Karl-Anthony Towns, Jonas Valančiūnas, Nikola Vučević, Lauri Markkanen, Rudy Gobert and Kristaps Porziņģis.

And frankly, the interior is really the only area where the Americans don’t boast a ton of depth.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, but Walker Kessler is coming off his rookie season, and Bobby Portis is more of a 4. And none of them are the kind of brutes that you can be certain will keep someone like Valančiūnas off the glass.

Where they should have an advantage against most frontcourts, though, is in the mobility department. All three are good at covering ground on the perimeter. It doesn’t hurt that Jackson and Portis can hit threes on the other end too.

Playmaking Forwards

USA may lack a little conventional size at the power forward and center slots, but it could overwhelm most other teams with its size everywhere else.

Jalen Brunson will run plenty of offense for this team, but forwards and wings like Edwards, Ingram and Banchero are very capable creators. And being able to attack from four spots (maybe even five, depending on how small Steve Kerr is willing to go) will give this team perhaps the tournament’s least predictable offense.

Shooting

Any time Team USA finds itself in a tournament like this, there always seems to be some discussion about getting used to the FIBA ball and three-point line. More physical defense often requires an adjustment period for shooters too.

However, if the Americans can weather those storms and generally shoot like they do in the NBA, they’re going to be extremely difficult to beat.

Everyone knows trading threes for twos is often a recipe for winning, and Bridges, Brunson, Edwards, Haliburton, Ingram, Jackson, Johnson, Portis and Reaves should be routinely making that trade.