At the last FIBA ​​World Cup, Team USA finished seventh. A young, athletic and talented roster – but with no
international experience — will take the USA Basketball court starting Aug. 26 and try to get America back on the gold medal stage (the U.S. won gold in two World Cups before Spain took the last one).

If you have questions about the World Cup, we have the answers. Here are all the details.

Where and when are the world championships played?

The 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup runs from August 25 to September 10, with games in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. All of Team USA’s games will be played in Manila.

When does Team USA play? How do I look?

All Team USA games throughout the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN2 and available on the network’s streaming services, which will include all tournament games. Here is Team USA’s Group C schedule with times listed as Eastern:

• New Zealand, Saturday, August 26 (8:40 a.m.)
• Greece, Monday, August 28 (8:40 a.m.)
• Jordan, Wednesday, August 30 (4:40 p.m.)

The complete schedule of matches can be found at this link.

What is the format of the World Cup?

FIBA found a way to make a simple idea complex, as they often do. We will try to be clear.

32 teams from all over the world participate in the World Cup. They have been drawn into eight groups of four and will play the first round of group matches against these teams (the USA will face New Zealand, the Greek team without Giannis Antetokounmpoand Jordan).

Then things deviate from what we are used to. The top two finishers in each group (16 teams in total) advance to the second group stage consisting of four groups of four, where the teams play the top two teams from another group. The team’s record from the first round carries over to the second round of group play. As an example, for the USA, if they go down 3-0 in the first round of group play, they will advance against the top two teams from Group D (which consists of Egypt, Mexico, Lithuania and Montenegro). USA’s 3-0 record in the first round would be added to how they fared in two games in the second round to make the record five games.

The top two teams from these four groups in the second round advance to the eight-team tournament in the traditional knockout style. This is how a champion is crowned.

How many NBA players are in the World Cup?

The final number is 56. This is how it is broken down by country:

USA (12): Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cameron Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves
Australia (9): Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle, Jack White
Canada (7): Starring: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell
Germany (4): Franz Wagner, Dennis Schröder, Moritz Wagner, Daniel Theis
Serbia (4): Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Jović, Aleksej Pokuševski, Filip Petrushev
France (3): Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier
Spain (2): Santi Aldama, Usman Garuba
Dominican Republic (2): Karl-Anthony Towns, Lester Quinones
Georgia (2): Goga Bitadze, Sandro Mamukelashvili
Slovenia (1): Luka Dončić
Italy (1): Simone Fontecchio
Philippines (1): Jordan Clarkson
China (1): Kyle Anderson
South Sudan (1): Karlik Jones
Greece (1): Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Lithuania (1): Jonáš Valanciunas
Montenegro (1): Nikola Vucevic
Finland (1): Lauri Markkanen
Japan (1): Yuta Watanabe
Latvia (1): Davis Bertans

What’s the latest news from Team USA?

As the team awaits its first game, Anthony Edwards — who has emerged as the main player and top scorer on this roster – said coach Steve Kerr’s original plan, before training camp even got underway, was to have Edwards come off the bench as a microwave shooter. Edwards was not down with it. Through Joe Vardon of The Athletic:

“I mean, of course I wasn’t cool with it. If it’s necessary, I mean I’m willing to do it, but no, I’m never comfortable with that… (Kerr) said, “Dwyane Wade came off the bench when Kobe (Bryant) was playing. I was like, ‘OK, we don’t have Kobe, but OK'”

By the USA’s second game of training camp in Las Vegas, it was clear that Edwards had to start. The bench is still a strength for the USA thanks to Tyrese Haliburton and Austin Reaves (both of whom closed out a close game against Germany a few days ago — with Edwards on the court as well).