When Paul George went down with a season-ending injury during USA Basketball’s showcase in Las Vegas, many wondered how players would react, and whether or not they might choose to sit out international play in the future, foregoing the risk while saving themselves for the rigors of the NBA season instead.
Some may indeed consider things more carefully moving forward. But just about everyone who was already committed this summer decided to stick it out, and the result is a record number of current NBA players slated to compete in the FIBA World Cup which begins on Saturday.
From the official release:A record 45 current NBA players will be featured on national team rosters for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, up from 44 in 2010. The tournament features a record 75 players who have played in the NBA.
The World Cup will showcase 17 former NBA draftees whose rights are currently held by NBA teams, bringing the total number of current NBA players, former NBA players and NBA draftees participating in the tournament to a record 92.
Twenty-one of 24 national teams feature at least one current NBA player, former NBA player or NBA draftee, and 22 NBA teams are represented on national team rosters.
The stars of the league might decide to skip the Worlds in future seasons, but only a handful are good enough to be selected for the Olympics, and lesser events like these are the only chance for many players to represent their respective countries in international competition.
The entire list of players with NBA experience who (as of Aug. 29) are scheduled to compete in the FIBA World Cup is reprinted below.
The following is a complete list of current NBA players on 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup rosters:
COUNTRY | NBA PLAYER | NBA TEAM |
Argentina | Luis Scola | Indiana Pacers |
Argentina | Pablo Prigioni | New York Knicks |
Australia | Cameron Bairstow | Chicago Bulls |
Australia | Matthew Dellavedova | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Australia | Dante Exum | Utah Jazz |
Australia | Brock Motum | Utah Jazz |
Brazil | Anderson Varejao | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Brazil | Tiago Splitter | San Antonio Spurs |
Brazil | Nenê | Washington Wizards |
Croatia | Bojan Bodgdanovic | Brooklyn Nets |
Croatia | Damjan Rudez | Indiana Pacers |
Dominican Republic | Francisco Garcia | Houston Rockets |
Finland | Erik Murphy | Cleveland Cavaliers |
France | Evan Fournier | Orlando Magic |
France | Nicolas Batum | Portland Trail Blazers |
France | Boris Diaw | San Antonio Spurs |
France | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz |
Greece | Kostas Papanikolaou | Houston Rockets |
Greece | Nick Calathes | Memphis Grizzlies |
Greece | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
Lithuania | Donatas Motiejunas | Houston Rockets |
Lithuania | Jonas Valanciunas | Toronto Raptors |
Mexico | Jorge Gutierrez | Brooklyn Nets |
Puerto Rico | J.J. Barea | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Senegal | Gorgui Dieng | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Slovenia | Goran Dragić | Phoenix Suns |
Spain | Pau Gasol | Chicago Bulls |
Spain | Marc Gasol | Memphis Grizzlies |
Spain | Ricky Rubio | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Spain | José Calderon | New York Knicks |
Spain | Serge Ibaka | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Spain | Victor Claver | Portland Trail Blazers |
Turkey | Omer Asik | New Orleans Pelicans |
United States | Mason Plumlee | Brooklyn Nets |
United States | Derrick Rose | Chicago Bulls |
United States | Kyrie Irving | Cleveland Cavaliers |
United States | Kenneth Faried | Denver Nuggets |
United States | Andre Drummond | Detroit Pistons |
United States | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors |
United States | Klay Thompson | Golden State Warriors |
United States | James Harden | Houston Rockets |
United States | Anthony Davis | New Orleans Pelicans |
United States | DeMarcus Cousins | Sacramento Kings |
United States | Rudy Gay | Sacramento Kings |
United States | DeMar DeRozan | Toronto Raptors |
The following is a complete list of NBA free agents on 2014 FIBA World Cup rosters:
COUNTRY | NBA PLAYER | MOST RECENT NBA TEAM |
Australia | Aron Baynes | San Antonio Spurs |
Brazil | Leandro Barbosa | Phoenix Suns |
Mexico | Gustavo Ayon | Atlanta Hawks |
Philippines | Andray Blatche | Brooklyn Nets |
Serbia | Miroslav Raduljica | Los Angeles Clippers |
The following is a complete list of former NBA players on 2014 FIBA World Cup rosters*:
COUNTRY | NBA PLAYER | MOST RECENT NBA TEAM |
Argentina | Walter Herrmann | Detroit Pistons |
Argentina | Andres Nocioni | Philadelphia 76ers |
Australia | David Andersen | New Orleans Hornets |
Australia | Nathan Jawai | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Brazil | Alex Garcia | New Orleans Hornets |
Brazil | Marcus Vinicius | New Orleans Hornets |
Croatia | Oliver Lafayette | Boston Celtics |
Croatia | Damir Markota | Milwaukee Bucks |
Croatia | Roko Ukic | Milwaukee Bucks |
Finland | Hanno Möttölä | Atlanta Hawks |
France | Mickael Gelabale | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Greece | Andreas Glyniadakis | Seattle SuperSonics |
Iran | Hamed Haddadi | Phoenix Suns |
New Zealand | Kirk Penney | San Antonio Spurs |
Puerto Rico | Carlos Arroyo | Boston Celtics |
Puerto Rico | Renaldo Balkman | New York Knicks |
Puerto Rico | Daniel Santiago | Milwaukee Bucks |
Senegal | Hamady N’Diaye | Sacramento Kings |
Serbia | Nenad Krstic | Boston Celtics |
Slovenia | Uroš Slokar | Toronto Raptors |
Spain | Rudy Fernandez | Denver Nuggets |
Spain | Juan Carlos Navarro | Memphis Grizzlies |
Spain | Sergio Rodriguez | New York Knicks |
Ukraine | Pooh Jeter | Sacramento Kings |
Ukraine | Slava Kravtsov | Phoenix Suns |