The United States will open Basketball World Cup play against New Zealand this summer, with Greece and Jordan also awaiting the Americans in the group stage.
FIBA held the World Cup draw in Manila on Saturday, when the 32 teams that qualified for the field found out their initial matchups for the tournament that runs from Aug. 25 through Sept. 10. The Americans — the four-time defending Olympic champions who finished seventh at the most recent World Cup in 2019 — play New Zealand on Aug. 26, then face Greece and likely Giannis Antetokounmpo on Aug. 28, and conclude group-stage play Aug. 30 against Jordan.
The Americans will play Greece in August at Abu Dhabi in an exhibition. They met in the World Cup at China four years ago. Antetokounmpo is expected to play for Greece; his Milwaukee Bucks were hoping for a deep NBA playoff run but lost to the Miami Heat in Round 1. “To our friends around the world, join our new ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ the 2023 Basketball World Cup edition," said Manuel Pangilinan, a FIBA Central Board member from the Philippines — using the phrase coined for the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight in Manila in 1975.
France beat the Americans in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup, eliminating the U.S. from medal contention and starting the spiral to a seventh-place finish at that event, the worst finish ever for an American team featuring NBA players.
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