According to a report by Tolis Kotzias from SDNA.gr, the Hellenic Basketball Federation (HBF) has applied to become the host of the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. In the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the federation president, Vangelis Liolios, had previously noted his desire to have the tournament in Greece.
The future of head coach Vincent Collet with the French NT appeared to be doubtful following the squad's debacle at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Les Bleus failed to qualify for the Round of 16 after losing to Canada and Latvia, and several rumors regarding the veteran tactician started to surface.
The Philipines were one of the hosts of the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The country's national team, Gilas Pilipinas, was led by a naturalized NBA guard, Jordan Clarkson. Seeing his success, one more NBA player reportedly expressed his desire to join the squad. According to Naveen Ganglani from Rappler, Atlanta Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu is open to joining Gilas Pilipinas.
No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Victor Wembanyama, has officially expressed his intention to join the French national team for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. "Succeeding in the Olympics would be a great story. And there will be no goal other than gold. Of course, I will be present at the Olympics," Wembanyama confidently stated via L'Equipe.
After not coaching a club for a year, Svetislav Pesic became the head coach of the Serbian national team in 2021. Two years later, he guided the roster to a World Cup silver.
On September 3rd, Lithuania played one of the best quarters in the country's basketball history and stunned Team USA, giving them their first loss in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. It was the 11th loss a fully-stacked NBA players-only roster suffered in major international tournaments.
France, Australia, South Sudan, Japan, Team USA, and Canada have become the first six teams that qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. France secured its place as the host nation despite being eliminated early from the FIBA World Cup 2023 title contention.
Serbia and Germany became the latest and the last countries that directly qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both teams became the best two European nations in the FIBA World Cup and received direct tickets to Paris. Serbia reached the semifinal after beating Lithuania 87-68, while Germany survived the last-second thriller against Latvia and also made the Top 4.
Japan needed to win the last game against Cabo Verde to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. They controlled the match in front of the home crowd in Okinawa and got a relatively easy win - 80-71 (17-19, 33-18, 23-18, 7-16). Even though Edy Tavares-led squad had an early lead (19-11), Japan quickly pushed back with a 12-0 run to take the lead (23-19).
Two outcomes had to go right for South Sudan to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. They have now achieved the biggest win in the country's basketball history. South Sudan easily defeated Angola in their last game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, winning by 23 points.
Saturday will be a big day for the African teams in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 as five teams continue to battle for one direct ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics. So far, South Sudan (2-2) and Egypt (2-2) have the best odds of becoming the best African team in the competition, but currently, all five teams remain in contention because all of them could end up with a 2-3 record.
It's been 10 years since Ben Simmons last played for the Australian national team. Ready to get back to the NBA fully healthy, the Brooklyn Nets forward wants to return to the Boomers squad as well.
The Bahamas won the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Argentina behind the leadership of three NBA players. Now, the country might welcome even more names to the roster. While Buddy Hield has been playing for his home country for quite some time, Deandre Ayton and Eric Gordon joined the Indiana Pacers shooter to defeat Argentina in the tournament's final.
Bahamas, Bahrain, Cameroon, Croatia, and Poland are celebrating success at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments 2023. All five countries remain on the Road to Paris 2024 and will take their place at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments next year after punching their respective tickets.
Poland national team and Panathinaikos Athens center Aleksander Balcerowski shared some positive news after his scary fall in a game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Luckily, everything is fine. Nothing serious at the moment, only a hard hit," Balcerowski shared on his Instagram story.
After finishing 7th in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Team USA will look to rebound and win the gold medal once again. Despite the fact that the 2023 FIBA World Cup starts in less than a week, the conversation in the US still often revolves around what will happen next year when the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will be held.
Former NBA star Paul Pierce believes LeBron James' career in Team USA is not over just yet. Even though James will be 39 next summer, Pierce says the Los Angeles Lakers star will suit up for his country.
AS Monaco's forward Alpha Diallo hasn't played in any international FIBA competition as part of a national team. He will play his first game on Tuesday, August 15th. The Guinean Basketball Federation has announced that Diallo will represent Guinea in the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Nigeria. Diallo will form a duo with Buducnost VOLI Podgorica's Alpha Kaba on the roster.
On the day Giannis Antetokounmpo announced he won't be able to help Greece in the upcoming World Cup because of a knee injury, putting an end to rumors and speculations, another saga is unfolding within the team's realm.
Previously unreleased footage of Liz Cambage's brawl with Nigerian players during the infamous exhibition game with Australia has surfaced just days after the player was banned from her national team. Cambage walked away from the Opals ahead of the Tokyo Olympics after allegations she called Nigerian players 'monkeys' and said 'go back to your third-world country' in the heated 2021 scrimmage.
