Every generation sees players from various countries lead their national team to newfound success. Which current young NBA players are bound to do that?
The coming month of August will be a big one for international basketball, as the FIBA World Cup, the biggest stage of basketball for national teams, will take place from August 25 to September 10.
Before that, teams from around the globe who did not qualify for the World Cup will participate in the Pre-Qualifying Olympic Qualifying Tournaments from August 12 to August 20. These tournaments, one for each FIBA zone, will send one team to participate in the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments before the 2024 Olympics.
For some countries, it takes one or two players to help a team get over the top and improve on the national level. They are the face of their country, and they are able to help their national team improve while on the court and also have an impact on the state of basketball across the entire country.
The rise of NBA players on the international scene
Think about Luka Doncic and his elevation of the Slovenian national team, who finished 4th in the 2020 Olympics. Think about Lauri Markkanen and Finland, who will make their FIBA World Cup debut next month. Think about Nikola Vucevic and Montenegro, who made their FIBA World Cup debut back in 2019 and will also appear in next month’s edition. Latvia, led by Kristaps Porzingis, will be making its World Cup debut next month as well. These are just the most recent examples.
These players mean so much to their countries, and they deserve praise for all that they do. With basketball becoming a global sport and the NBA becoming a truly global league, there is an abundance of international talent entering the league. That leads us to the question of which young players will levitate their countries during their playing careers. Here are five of the best options.