Canada was long considered one of the two favorites to win the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but they lost to Serbia in the semifinals.
After the upset victory over Canada on Friday in the Philippines, the Serbian national team will advance to the finals and will face Germany for a chance to win the gold medal in the competition.
Serbia is coached by Svetislav “Kari” Pešić, who has previously coached Barcelona as well as Bayern and Valencia in the Euroleague. He also possesses German citizenship and coached the German national team from 1987 until 1993 and then again in 2012.
His roster at the FIBA World Cup has three NBA players, which is one fewer than his German opponents (4) in the championship game.
Serbia is without key players who could represent the nation, including NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic. Others with NBA experience who are eligible to play for Serbia but not on the roster include Vasilije Micic, Milos Teodosic, Boban Marjanovic and Aleksej Pokusevski.
Despite that, however, Serbia currently has the best point differential among all teams in the tournament.
Here are the Serbian players representing their country in this competition.
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