The NBA World Cup of Basketball (Part 1)

Co-written by Isaac O’Neill and Chris Howson-Jan

There’s an unfortunate clash between the NBA as a business and the NBA as a vehicle for great basketball — the constraints it puts on teams and players. With the possible exception of the 2016–17 Warriors, every team has some defined ceiling based on the limitations of its players. And no team, not even those Warriors, has ever truly crossed into basketball nirvana. The closest thing we’ve come to basketball perfection is probably the 1992 Dream Team. The Dream Team’s legacy is immeasurable on multiple levels, but at its core, it represents the fulfilled dream of seeing the 99.999th percentile of what’s possible in the sport of basketball.

Seeing the NBA’s very best play together probably meant even more in 1992 than it does now, given the player movement and super teams that have become the NBA norm. Many teams that would once existed only in the realm of hypotheticals are coming true. We don’t have to wonder how James Harden or Russell Westbrook would fare running his own team, or what a Kyrie/Durant or LeBron/Davis pick and roll would look like; we’ve been able to see all of those permutations. “Will we see Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons figure it out?” “Will the Kyrie-Harden-Durant trio work?” These are real questions go deeper beyond the kind of teenage on-again/off-again drama that has become a major part of NBA discourse. It’s not not that, but there are philosophical and strategic ponderings lying beneath the surface that make the sport and league what it is.

Melancholic waxing poetic about days gone from previous generations — players and fans alike — aside, it’s cool to see the very best players in a variety of situations. People still talk about Scottie Pippen’s borderline MVP season during Michael Jordan’s retirement. Clyde Drexler unlocked something in Houston that he couldn’t in Portland, and it won him a championship in ‘95. West and Wilt, Kareem and Magic, Erving and Moses. Players teaming up, or parting ways, has always been part of the NBA, and what makes it so fun to discuss. The way individual players’ talents and quirks mesh together do not have the same impact on on-court chemistry in other sports.

Despite the massive increase in both team strategy and player movement over the last decade, we are still greedy. We’ve still seen great talent meld together in other Olympic and FIBA tournaments, but its rare for all of the best players to find themselves playing. For various reason, LeBron, Curry, Kawhi, Harden and Chris Paul all failed to take part in the 2016 Rio Olympics. We are greedy to see different players succeed and/or fail together, and greedy to see basketball played at a high level.

SO, all of that existential rumination is preamble to the main event; we decided to formulate what a theoretical international NBA tournament would look like.

Practically speaking, our inspiration was similar to the World Cup of Hockey, which last took place in 2016. It would have to be NBA-sanctioned, and would start before the NBA season. Being an NBA sanctioned tournament means players are obligated to play, and owners are obligated to encourage their players to play. It would take place after training camp, and provide a runway of competitive basketball leading up to the new season for many of the leagues best players. Unlike the NBA midseason tournament that has been widely discussed in recent years, the vested interest of national pride would be natural.

One of the key factors, however, is making sure competition is high. Although the U.S. has gone into every tournament a heavy favourite since the Dream Team’s inception, they have disappointed in many years. Even with the continually encouraging growth of players from around the world, no teams depth can stand up against the strength of the U.S.. So unlike many international tournaments — where many players from other professional leagues play key roles on their national rosters — we want competition to be strong, top to bottom.

We have constructed five teams; the USA, USA under-25, Europe, the Americas (outside of the US), and an amalgamation of everyone else; meaning Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Here is a first glance at the teams. We tried to construct them in a way that made sense for modern basketball reasons, rather than just accumulating the most talent. There were tough cuts on every team, but this was far preferred scrounging for players that would appear laughable in a game versus a team as stacked as the U.S. Though the teams have very different makeups, they all have players who can hold their own in high level situations.

You can click here for Part 2, where we’ll break down the pros and cons of each team, our toughest cuts from each roster, lineup permutations, and what sort of chance they stand against the US juggernaut.