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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
With LeBron James and Stephen Curry expected to play for Team USA, and top international players like Nikola Jokic and Victor Wenbanyama also set to compete, the Olympic men's basketball tournament to be held in Paris this summer has so far It will be the most competitive international basketball event ever held.
The draw to determine pool play was held Tuesday at FIBA headquarters in Switzerland, the first step toward the July 27 start. There are a few things you should know:
NBA's top stars scheduled to play
Last summer's World Cup saw few of the best players in the game as many players were sidelined due to injury or rest.
The Summer Olympics will be held in Europe for the first time since the 2012 London Games, and with fans returning after the closed-door Tokyo Games in 2021, there is expected to be a lot of interest across the basketball world.
Players eligible for Team USA include James, Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, as well as Jokic, Wenbanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The same goes for (Canada). Some NBA stars from teams that have already qualified have said they would like to play in their respective countries.
Several other big-name stars are hoping to help their country qualify.
field not set
Eight teams will qualify and four spots will be determined by a tournament in the first week of July. The process of winning one of these slots can be daunting, especially for a talented European team.
The United States and Canada received automatic bids from the Americas region based on their performance at last summer's World Cup. Germany and Serbia won the bidding rights for the European region, while France received an automatic bid as host country.
South Sudan qualified from Africa, Japan qualified from Asia, and Australia qualified from Oceania.
Qualifying tournaments will be held from July 2nd to July 7th in Puerto Rico, Latvia, Greece, and Spain. Six countries will compete at each venue, with one team from each country advancing to Paris. And there could be a high-stakes match.
Spain is currently ranked second in the world, but has yet to qualify for the Olympics. They will play at home in Valencia, Spain, but are expected to face a tough test from the Bahamas, where NBA players Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield and Eric Gordon met for the first time last summer to win a qualifying event. ing. south america.
The most competitive qualifying tournament could be held in Piraeus, Greece, with the hosts (led by Giannis Antetokounmpo) facing Luka Doncic's Slovenia. Doncic led Slovenia to the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after defeating Lithuania in the preliminary round.
Antetokounmpo missed the 2023 World Cup due to knee surgery, but said he hopes to play this summer.
Candidates from the San Juan region include Italy, Lithuania, and host Puerto Rico. Lithuania could have a dominant front line with Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis, who defeated the United States at last summer's World Cup and missed the tournament with a thumb injury. Latvia reached the World Cup quarterfinals without Kristaps Porzingis, who missed the tournament with a foot injury.
At home in Riga, Latvia will be favorites to win, with Montenegro and Brazil likely to challenge them.
Big men may dominate the Olympics
One of the most important accomplishments at the World Cup was Serbia clinching the final spot in Europe without Jokic, who was rested after the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Finals. Serbia advances directly to Paris, so even if the Nuggets return to the Finals, Jokic will have a month of rest.
The Serbian national team also includes Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has achieved excellent results in international matches, and will be the best candidate to win a medal.
Wenbanyama also missed last summer's World Cup and took a break, but for many years he has been focused on making his Olympic debut in his home country. Along with center Rudy Gobert, coach Vincent Collet is expected to play alongside France as they look to avenge their loss to the United States in the gold medal game in Tokyo, and he is one of France's potential players. This will give him a destructive defensive presence.
Germany defeats Team USA, which features NBA big men Moritz Wagner, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis, as well as 6-foot-11 EuroLeague star Johannes Voigtmann, in the semifinals at Interior and advances to the World Cup. They achieved a brilliant result of winning the championship.
All of this is why it was important for the Americans to secure the commitment of naturalized Embiid last summer. Embiid, who had considered playing for France, said he still hopes to play in the U.S. despite a torn meniscus interrupting his historic season with the Philadelphia 76ers. .
Canada is a wild card
Canada is second only to the United States in terms of overall talent, led by breakout star Gilgeous-Alexander and many other NBA players, but only seventh in the world.
The rankings take into account performance over multiple years, effectively making Canada the No. 3 seed for this Olympic draw.
This could create the toughest group in Paris, which will include Canada, Australia (bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games), two qualifiers from Spain and Greece.
