Basketball World Cup 2023: Who's playing, who's favored

The Basketball World Cup - FIBA’s biggest tournament - starts Friday, spread out across three countries for the first two rounds before all the biggest games get played in Manila to decide which nation will go home with gold medals and the Naismith Trophy on September 10.

Spain is the defending champion, having won in China four years ago. The US was only seventh in that tournament, its worst finish ever in a major international event. But the Americans have high hopes, and enter as the tournament favorites.

What's at stake?

Start with gold medals for the winners, possession of the Naismith Trophy, the chance to spend the next four years as the reigning World Cup champions. The gold medal game is in Manila on September 10. There are tournaments within the tournament, though - with another very big prize.

Out of this World Cup, seven teams will directly qualify for the Paris Olympics based on their finish. It’ll be the top two teams from the Americas Region, the top two from Europe, and one each from Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, the US, Nigeria and Iran were the seven nations that used World Cup finishes to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

France has already qualified for the Olympics as the host nation. The seven teams that make it out of World Cup will be joined by four other nations - to be determined in July 2024 - as part of the 12-team field for Paris 2024.

Tournament schedule

The 32 teams were split into eight groups of four. The top two teams from each group will make the second round. The top eight teams after the second round advance to the quarterfinals.

Here’s a list of all the opening games for all 32 teams:

■ Friday (August 25)
Group A (at Manila): Angola vs. Italy, Dominican Republic vs. Philippines
Group D (at Manila): Mexico vs. Montenegro, Egypt vs. Lithuania
Group E (at Okinawa): Finland vs. Australia, Germany vs. Japan
Group H (at Jakarta): Latvia vs. Lebanon, Canada vs. France

■ Saturday (August 26)
Group B (at Manila): South Sudan vs. Puerto Rico, Serbia vs. China
Group C (at Manila): Jordan vs. Greece, U.S. vs. New Zealand
Group F (at Okinawa): Cape Verde vs. Georgia, Slovenia vs. Venezuela
Group G (at Jakarta): Iran vs. Brazil, Spain vs. Ivory Coast

Predictions

FIBA released results of a pre-tournament poll on Thursday, and as expected, the US is the overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup.

The US got 61.5% of votes, followed by France (9.9%), defending champion Spain (8.7%), Slovenia (4.3%) and Australia (3.7%).

Other poll predictions: 92.5% of those polled believe the US will medal, followed by France (49.1%) and Spain (42.2%). The US was also tabbed as the team with the most pressure to win (61.5%), followed by the Philippines (11.2%).

Anthony Edwards of the US is the pre-tournament pick to win MVP (21.1%), ahead of Slovenia’s Luka Doncic (13.8%) and US guard Jalen Brunson (10.5%).

Doncic was picked as the player expected to lead the tournament in both points and assists per game, while France’s Rudy Gobert was picked to lead the tournament in rebounds per game and be the best defender. Doncic also was - by far - the pick to take the shot with the game on the line, getting 45% of votes, well ahead of Edwards’ 8.6%.

Players to watch

Rosters won’t be finalized until later this week, but expect at least 20 of the 32 teams to have at least one NBA player on the roster. The US is the only team with all 12 players hailing from the NBA.

Canada has a slew of NBA talent, as would be expected, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Nickell Alexander-Walker and Dwight Powell.

Among the other big NBA names on non-US rosters: Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Jordan Clarkson (Philippines), Kyle Anderson (China), Rudy Gobert (France), Evan Fournier (France), Nicolas Batum (France), Davis Bertans (Latvia), Patty Mills (Australia), Joe Ingles (Australia), Lauri Markkanen (Finland), Josh Giddey (Australia), Josh Green (Australia), Matisse Thybulle (Australia), Dennis Schroder (Germany), Franz Wagner (Germany), Moritz Wagner (Germany), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro).