The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.
EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.
The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.
It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.
Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jusuf Nurkic (Trail Blazers)
- Croatia
- Bojan Bogdanovic (Jazz)
- Dario Saric (Suns)
- Ivica Zubac (Clippers)
- Czech Republic
- Vit Krejci (Thunder)
- Finland
- Lauri Markkanen (Cavaliers)
- France
- Evan Fournier (Knicks)
- Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves)
- Theo Maledon (Thunder)
- Georgia
- Goga Bitadze (Pacers)
- Sandro Mamukelashvili (Bucks)
- Germany
- Daniel Theis (Pacers)
- Franz Wagner (Magic)
- Greece
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Tyler Dorsey (Mavericks)
- Israel
- Deni Avdija (Wizards)
- Italy
- Simone Fontecchio (Jazz)
- Danilo Gallinari (Celtics)
- Lithuania
- Domantas Sabonis (Kings)
- Jonas Valanciunas (Pelicans)
- Montenegro
- Marko Simonovic (Bulls)
- Serbia
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Slovenia
- Vlatko Cancar (Nuggets)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Goran Dragic (Bulls)
- Spain
- Usman Garuba (Rockets)
- Juancho Hernangomez (Raptors)
- Willy Hernangomez (Pelicans)
- Turkey
- Furkan Korkmaz (Sixers)
- Cedi Osman (Cavaliers)
- Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
- Ukraine
- Alex Len (Kings)
- Svi Mykhailiuk (Raptors)
There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.
A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.
Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.
Speaking of Vlatko Cancar. How about him burying the gw trey in OT to lift the Slovenes over the Serbs last night. Great games for Jokic & esp Luka as well.. link to m.youtube.com
This is promising to be the best Eurobasket of all time with the amount of high level stars involved
Should def be a great tournament but ofc the last 1 was amazing too. So was the Tony Parker one in 2013 & pretty much all the 1s before it. This has always been a great tournament, guys over here just been blind to it
Yes I say that comment with the highest respect to all the previous tournaments. Always a great tournament
NBA has done a fantastic job over the years promoting basketball in Europe and the rest of the world. 34 players from Europe in amazing!
Would love to see this trend happen in Asia as well. More Yao Ming….
Who’s your pick to win?
I’m taking Slovenia
Deutschland
I think it’ll depend on who is willing to play full speed. France was the silver medalist in the last Olympics. Slovenia was close to finishing 3rd. I wouldn’t count out Greece with Giannis on that team. Italy seems to have gotten better. Serbia and Croatia should be solid as well.
Keep in mind, there are guys in these tourneys that are NBA talent level that never wanted to play in the NBA or were never properly utilized over here. Should be a good tournament!