The U.S. men’s basketball roster for this summer’s FIBA World Cup includes nobody who has ever made an All-NBA team and nobody over the age of 28.
The 12-man team does include three 2023 NBA All-Stars: Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies and Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers.
The rest of the squad: Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Cameron Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis and Austin Reaves.
Portis is the oldest player on the team. Banchero, 20, would be the youngest American man to play at a World Cup since Dwight Howard in 2006.
This would be the first time under NBA participation that a U.S. men’s basketball roster for an Olympics or a worlds includes zero All-NBA players. (The 1998 World Cup roster had zero NBA players amid the lockout, though the originally named team did include All-NBAers.)
It has been trending this way, aided by an increase in non-Americans on All-NBA teams and stars wanting to rest in the offseason.
Some of the world’s best players are also not taking part in the World Cup, including NBA MVP Joel Embiid (who can choose to play for the U.S. or France) and No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama of France.
The last three U.S. rosters for a World Cup included one man who made the previous season’s All-NBA team. The Olympic rosters have included more household names.
At the last World Cup in 2019, the U.S. lost twice and finished seventh overall, the worst major tournament result in U.S. men’s basketball history. It rebounded to win the Tokyo Olympic title despite taking its first Olympic loss since 2004, in group play to France.
Two players from the 2019 World Cup made the Tokyo Olympic team — Jayson Tatum and Khris Middleton.
Steve Kerr has since succeeded Gregg Popovich as the U.S. head coach.
Worlds are in August and September, co-hosted by Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The U.S. will play all of its games in the Phillippines.
The U.S. faces Greece (possibly with Giannis Antetokounmpo), New Zealand and Jordan in the first round of group play.
The top two teams from North and South America -- out of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela -- will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The rest can still make it to Paris through one of four last-chance, winner-take-all qualifying tournaments, likely to take place in June 2024.