The FIBA Basketball World Cup is currently underway in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, and some of the best players and biggest names in the sport have arrived in Asia in the hope of guiding their respective countries to glory.
Whether you’re an avid follower of basketball and, therefore, set to be glued to your television sets until the final on September 10 or a casual viewer just wanting to see some top-class action from many of the top teams in the world, here is a list of four players who have performed admirably at the tournament.
Luka Doncic – Slovenia
Four-time NBA All-Star and former NBA Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic is the star attraction at this year’s World Cup. The 24-year-old has taken the States by storm since being selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the third pick in the first round of the 2018 draft before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks — breaking numerous records and asserting himself as one of the best players in the division.
Slovenia have real firepower on the offensive front thanks to Doncic, as proven by his stats thus far with two 30-plus points scoring games at the time of writing. However, it’s unlikely that the point guard is going to be able to single-handedly help his nation win the World Cup. That’s reflected in the basketball betting odds, as the Central Europeans are fancied at outside odds of 16/1.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Canada
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps getting better and better year-on-year in the NBA and he earned himself a maiden spot on the Western Conference roster for the 2023 All-Star game thanks to his performances for the Oklahoma City Thunder this past season — averaging a career-best 31.4 pointer per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander has been fantastic for Canada thus far, particularly against France and Latvia when he scored 27 points and registered six assists against both. Canada haven’t won the World Cup since 1994, but they are the second favourites this year and it shows why.
Anthony Edwards – United States
Antony Edwards upped his game for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, averaging 24.6 points per game and 4.4 assists per game — both of which were career bests for the 22-year-old — as he too secured a place in the 2023 NBA All-Star game for the first time.
The 2020 first-round, first-overall pick in the 2020 draft has had fans on the edge of their seats during the World Cup as well with some stunning performances. He led the US’s scoring in the 110-62 win over Jordan, registering 22 points and four assists. The USA are the favourites to win the World Cup and regain the trophy from Spain.
Dennis Schroder – Germany
Germany have been one of the surprise outfits at this year’s Basketball World Cup, and a lot of that is down to the performances of NBA journeyman Dennis Schroder. The 29-year-old was the 17th pick of the first round by the Hawks and he has since represented the Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and is currently of the Toronto Raptors as of this offseason.
Schroder averaged 19.7 points per game in Germany’s group stage games against Japan, Finland and Australia and was particularly impressive against the latter — scoring 30 points and registering eight assists against the Olympic bronze medalists.
