The United States men's national basketball team competed in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and finished in seventh place. After winning the past two World Cups in 2010 and 2014, they were seeking to become the first country to capture three straight gold medals. With high-profile players electing not to participate, Team USA was devoid of A-list players from the National Basketball Association (NBA). They were also impacted throughout by injuries to players Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart. The Americans lost to France in the quarterfinals, ending their 58-game winning streak in FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and Olympic competition. Normally played every four years, the tournament was moved from its expected 2018 playing to avoid conflicting with soccer's World Cup schedule.

After rule changes by FIBA in 2015, the US no longer automatically qualified for the World Cup despite winning the Olympics in 2016. Changes in timing also resulted in the qualifying rounds overlapping with the NBA's season. Consequently, USA Basketball decided to deploy squads of players mostly from the NBA G League, the NBA's development league. Coached by Jeff Van Gundy, they qualified the US for the World Cup, where the Americans switched to a team of NBA players coached by Gregg Popovich. They finished the World Cup as one of the top two countries in the Americas, directly qualifying them for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Background

In 2015, FIBA changed the World Cup qualification process into a two-round tournament of home-and-away round robins over 16 months, which was similar to FIFA World Cup's process for soccer. Olympic gold no longer resulted in an automatic World Cup bid. The US was in the Americas group of 16 teams battling for 12 spots in the second round of the qualifying stage and finally for seven World Cup berths. To be eligible for the World Cup, the US first had to participate in the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. The United States had not played in the FIBA Americas tournament since 2007; they had been exempt from qualifying, having won every prior Olympics and world championships.

Players for the qualifying squads were chosen by a USA Basketball qualification committee. Their teams were made up of players primarily from the NBA G League, since FIBA had changed the World Cup qualifiers from summer to year-round, most of which conflicted with the seasons of top professional leagues such as the NBA and the EuroLeague. Unlike in soccer, there is no culture for leagues to schedule in-season breaks for players to compete for their national team. The coach for the qualifiers was Jeff Van Gundy, who is a basketball analyst for ESPN/ABC and a former NBA head coach who coached in the NBA Finals. He made his national team coaching debut in the 2017 Americup. Van Gundy and his squads were tasked with qualifying the US for the World Cup, when the U.S. would switch to a team of NBA players coached by Gregg Popovich. The five-time NBA champion Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs took over the national team from Mike Krzyzewski, who won three Olympic gold medals and two World Cups for the US.

Qualification

Playing games in North and South America, the US qualified for the World Cup after going 10–2. They relied on an assortment G League players and free agents, using a total of 54 different players in the 12 games.

First round

In the first round of qualification, games were played in three windows in November 2017 along with February and June 2018. The November team included four players from the US squad that went 5–0 to win the AmeriCup. Only two players—forward Travis Wear and guard Larry Drew II—returned for Team USA in their second qualifying window. The final window was also the first that was not during the NBA season. While some NBA players joined their national teams, the US continued playing with G League players. Trey McKinney-Jones and Marcus Thornton joined the Americans after needing to withdraw in February on account of 10-day contracts they had signed with NBA teams. On June 28, 2018, the US lost 78–70 to Mexico. It was the Americans first loss under Van Gundy and just the second defeat in 30 games against Mexico. It was also Team USA's first loss at the national-team level since 2006. The Mexico squad had just four players from its November team that lost by 36 points to the US They added players from various professional leagues who were unavailable earlier, including former NBA player Gustavo Ayón, who was coming off a EuroLeague championship with Real Madrid. The Americans advanced after finishing the round 5–1.

Second round In the first window of the second round, the US roster had a larger presence of players with NBA experience, though they were still mainly G League players. The June–July window in the first round conflicted with the NBA free agency period and NBA Summer League, while its first two windows were during the NBA season. For the second window, the United States again relied exclusively on G-Leaguers, using nine current players and three free agents with previous NBA experience. Nine of the 12 players had not played in the eight earlier qualifiers. The US qualified for the World Cup after rallying with a late 12–0 run against Uruguay to win 78–70.

World Cup roster

An initial pool of 35 players was named in April 2018 as candidates for the United States' 12-man roster. The list included 11 members from their 2016 Olympic gold-medal team, and five players who had won nine of the previous 10 NBA Most Valuable Player Awards. The US held its first minicamp in July 2018, which 23 of the 35 players attended. In the past, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo had mandated that players attended camps or risk disqualification; however, rules were relaxed in recent years.

In June 2019, a group of 20 players were initially invited to training camp to be held in Las Vegas in early August. A number of players withdrew leading up to camp, but replacements were named, leaving 15 candidates to vie for 12 spots on the World Cup roster. Only four of the remaining players had been NBA All-Stars: Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, and Kemba Walker. Of the 11 Americans who were among the 15 All-NBA selections in 2018–19, only third-team member Walker remained. Lowry withdrew after his thumb had not recovered from surgery a month earlier to repair a torn tendon he suffered in the 2019 NBA playoffs during the Toronto Raptors' championship run.

Harrison Barnes was the only player with Olympic experience (2016) on the final US roster. It had become customary for the Americans' World Cup teams to have few former Olympians. Barnes and Mason Plumlee (2014 World Cup) were the only former senior-level national team players. While Team USA typically drew fewer star players for the World Cup than the Olympics, the turnout was low even by World Cup standards. Only four members from the original 35-player pool were left on the final roster. A factor cited by Colangelo was FIBA moving the World Cup and the Olympics to back-to-back years, and its conflicts with the NBA schedule. Six NBA teams had preseason games scheduled overseas in 2019–20.

The US team was left with only two players, Middleton and Walker, who were All-Stars in the prior season. Measured either by All-Star or All-NBA selections, the remaining roster ranked among the least accomplished of any US Olympic or World Cup roster made up of NBA players since they were first allowed in 1992. Excluded was the 1998 World Championship team, which did not include NBA players due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout; they used a mix of non-NBA pro players and college players and finished with the bronze medal. The 2019 squad's two All-Stars from the prior season tied the low set by the 2004 Olympic team, which infamously did not win gold, for the fewest players coming off an All-Star season leading up to an international competition. The five career All-Star appearances of Lopez, Middleton, and Walker was the lowest ever, roughly half the total of past World Cup squads. Their All-NBA total also ranked the lowest.

Walker, who had recently signed with the Boston Celtics as a free agent, was joined on the US team by Celtics teammates Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart. It was the first time Team USA had four teammates from the same NBA team.

The following were candidates to make the team: +Earlier candidatesPlayer NBA team Added Removed Reason Phoenix Suns April 6, 2018 June 10, 2019 Not named to 20-man roster Philadelphia 76ers Memphis Grizzlies Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors San Antonio Spurs Golden State Warriors Oklahoma City Thunder Golden State Warriors Detroit Pistons Boston Celtics Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers New York Knicks Toronto Raptors Indiana Pacers Houston Rockets Denver Nuggets Golden State Warriors Washington Wizards Oklahoma City Thunder Los Angeles Lakers July 15, 2019 Withdrew Houston Rockets July 19, 2019 Withdrew Washington Wizards July 22, 2019 Withdrew Philadelphia 76ers Withdrew Portland Trail Blazers July 23, 2019 Withdrew Cleveland Cavaliers July 24, 2019 Withdrew Portland Trail Blazers July 25, 2019 Withdrew Houston Rockets Denver Nuggets June 10, 2019 Detroit Pistons April 6, 2018 August 1, 2019 Withdrew Los Angeles Clippers July 25, 2019 New York Knicks August 3, 2019 Withdrew Chicago Bulls August 9, 2019 Roster cut Miami Heat August 1, 2019 Sacramento Kings August 9, 2019 August 11, 2019 Withdrew Toronto Raptors April 6, 2018 August 12, 2019 Injured Houston Rockets June 10, 2019 August 16, 2019 Injured Sacramento Kings August 9, 2019 August 17, 2019 Withdrew Los Angeles Lakers June 10, 2019 August 24, 2019 Injured

Exhibition games Team USA was 3–1 in exhibition games. They split two games against Australia, losing the second game 98–94. The loss ended a 78-game winning streak in major international tournaments and exhibitions with an NBA roster, which dated back to the 2006 FIBA World Championship team.

Group phase First round

Czech Republic

Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 16 points and led all Americans with 25 minutes played as the US won 88–67 over the Czech Republic. The Czechs took an early 11–7 lead, but the US pretty much cruised the rest of the way. NBA player Tomáš Satoranský scored a game-high 17 points and added five assists for the Czech Republic, whose game plan was to have their point guard use his advantage over Walker. However, Walker held his own on defense and had 13 points along with four assists. Barnes was the second-leading scorer for Team USA with 14 points.

Turkey

Middleton made two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime to put the US ahead 93–92, and they hung on to win after Turkey's Ersan Ilyasova missed a 3-pointer as time expired. The Turks were ahead 92–91 with under 20 seconds remaining, but Cedi Osman and Doğuş Balbay missed four straight free throws to keep the Americans in the game. Tatum had forced overtime by making two of his three free throws after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in regulation.

The US led 10–2 early, and were never behind in the first half. They led 26–21 after one quarter, and were up 41–26 with 5:33 remaining in the half. However, US-born Scottie Wilbekin, who was naturalized in Turkey a year before, led a 12–0 run, and the contest remained close for the rest of the game. Ranked No. 17 in the world, Turkey figured to be the US team's toughest competition in the first round. Their lineup featured NBA players Ilyasova, Osman, Furkan Korkmaz and Semih Erden. Ilyasova had a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds in 38 minutes. The Turks played most of the game using a 2–3 zone defense, which stalled Team USA's offense. The Americans made 14-of-40 from 3-point range and just 13-of-37 on 2-pointers.