The final list is still months away. It could be May, June or even July before USA Basketball knows which 12 NBA players will be on the team that will compete in the World Cup in the Philippines next summer.
That certainly doesn’t mean Americans are sitting back and waiting.
Let the recruiting begin. The brains of the USA (managing director Grant Hill, national team director Sean Ford and coach Steve Kerr) are already in the process of trying to get players to think about wearing red, white and blue in the World Cup in 2023, as well as the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
“So far, it’s been really good, really positive momentum,” Hill said. “I have engaged with those who have been a part of the program in recent years, then also some who have not and have emerged as fantastic players who we think would fit into the international game. It’s very different from our game. It’s been fun, but it’s kind of a delicate dance.”
Many names will surface in the coming weeks and months; Remember, there were 52 players invited or committed at various times to the 2019 World Cup, and 40 of them were not on the team that ultimately made it to China for a disappointing seventh-place finish. Atlanta’s Trae Young has said he wants to play. Miami’s Tyler Herro isn’t saying no. The formula the Americans will use for this roster assembly project will be simple: a few versatile and mobile greats, a lot of ball shooters and a lot of shooters.
Decisions will be affected by health, how deep a player’s NBA team is in the playoffs, maybe contract status, and let’s not even think about the mess it would be to put together a World Cup team if the league has labor conflicts and leaves. in a lockout this summer. It’s a three-week tournament but not a three-week commitment; camp will begin sometime in late July and if all goes well, the team will play for gold in mid-September, just a couple of weeks before the NBA training camps are scheduled to start.
“We continue to have these conversations, we talk about our vision, how we envision certain guys being a part of it,” Hill said. “And there are a lot of guys who have been very receptive to the idea.”
There is a card that Hill, Ford and Kerr have to play that previous staff have not.
They can say that the United States is being disrespected.
The Americans are the four-time defending Olympic champions, and out of respect for the World Cup, the Olympics are by far the most significant tournament on the international calendar. But a couple of weeks ago, buoyed by a 2019 World Cup victory and a title at this year’s EuroBasket tournament, Spain overtook the USA in the FIBA world rankings. — the international governing body for sport.
It had been 12 years since any other men’s team but the USA had been in first place.
“Of course, this may or may not last long,” FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said. “This is in their hands and in the hands of the teams that are fighting for the first place in the ranking. … In the end, what counts is who brings the Naismith Trophy home next year on September 10.”
He is right. But qualifying is something Americans aren’t excited to see.
“First of all, you fully respect the rankings and the metrics used to determine,” Hill said. “You do not like that. You don’t like what you hear. And I think there’s a certain pride that we have in terms of the game and the success that we’ve had historically, but it’s an opportunity for us and a motivator to get back to that level. From a recruiting standpoint, we certainly have an opportunity to repair that and change that. And so that this has been used and continues to be used”.
This will not be easy. Mike Krzyzewski said it for years, and Gregg Popovich said the same thing when he took over as Coach K as USA coach, that the world is catching up, or has caught up, with the Americans when it comes to international play. Kobe Bryant said it flatly in 2019, and he was proven right when the United States stumbled in China.
France are building a great team, one that will have projected No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama and could have Joel Embiid – if he picks the French over an offer to play for the US, a deal where he’s really an international free agent. Slovenia will have Luka Doncic. Oh, and Spain is still Spain.
But for now, USA Basketball believes it’s on the right track.
“We want to put out a roster that gives us a chance to win gold,” Hill said. “That’s the plan. I owe it to our coaching staff, I owe it to our program and I feel like we’re building in that direction.”
___
Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to treynolds(at)ap.org
___
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
