USA Basketball tipped off its four-day training camp for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Thursday on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 12-man roster, which was announced by the team last month, features NBA All-Stars Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr. They hit the court for the first time and wasted no time jumping into a 5-on-5 scrimmage.
The competition pitted Edwards, Haliburton, Ingram, Jackson and Paolo Banchero against Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Cam Johnson, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. Josh Hart was also with Edwards & Co. while Bobby Portis was opposite them.
BallisLife was there to capture the action on tape.
The USA Basketball select team was also on hand on Thursday. The 14-man secondary squad will practice and scrimmage daily against the senior roster. Its members will be eligible to travel and serve as potential injury replacement players before the start of the tournament.
The #USABMNT GOT AFTER IT at today’s first @FIBAWC practice! 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZkxNF4F034
— NBA (@NBA) August 3, 2023
The Americans will face Puerto Rico on Monday in Las Vegas in the first of five exhibition games. They will also have friendlies in Spain against Slovenia (Aug. 12) and Spain (Aug. 13) and wrap up their schedule in Abu Dhabi against Greece (Aug. 18) and Germany (Aug. 20).
Team USA will open the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Aug. 26 against New Zealand in Manila. It will face Greece on Aug. 28 and Jordan on Aug. 30 to wrap up the group phase. The top two teams from each group will advance to the second round.
The action will be televised on various ESPN platforms.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will help seven countries qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The seven spots include the top two teams from both the Americas and Europe (not including host France) and one team each from Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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