18) Argentina 1950 (result: second place)

Key players: Don Slocum, John Stanich, Bruce Heffley, Dan Kahler, Blake Williams

Following the wide-ranging success of the 1948 Olympics basketball tournament, where 23 nations participated, FIBA moved quickly to capitalize with its own world championship, akin to the FIFA World Cup of soccer. It was perfect timing, as the sport was quickly rising in popularity in both the U.S. and abroad in the wake of World War II ending. The first FIBA World Championships were held in Argentina with 10 participants, including the American team comprised of the roster of the Denver Chevrolets, an AAU squad. While the U.S. was undoubtedly the most talented team, led by Stanich, a former UCLA All-American, they had to deal with a multitude of obstacles, including a non-standard ball, subpar court conditions, raucous sell-out crowds, and sketchy refereeing. All of those factors converged in the gold medal game, when the U.S. were whistled for so many fouls they were reduced to just four players on the court down the stretch in a loss to the host Argentinians.

17) Philippines 1978 (result: fifth place)

Key players: Irvin Kiffin, Tim Hall, Eugene Parker, Brad Hoffman, Ernest Wansley

With the tournament taking place in October, NCAA players were unable to commit to the 1978 U.S. FIBA World Championship team. The U.S. roster was thus mostly comprised of players from Athletes in Action (AIA), an evangelical sports league. This was (unintentionally) a perfect pairing with the setting in the Philippines, which was ruled at the time by right wing religious autocrat Ferdinand Marcos. Only three players from this team eventually reached the NBA and the lengthiest pro career belonged to Kiffin, who played 26 games for the Spurs in ’79-’80. Things started off strongly for the Americans, who swept their three preliminary round games to advance to the second round but the dearth of talent caught up with them there, with four losses in their next five contests, including a 97-76 blowout at the hands of the Soviet Union. The U.S. recovered enough to salvage fifth place with a playoff win over Canada to finish the tournament with a 6-4 record but those four losses are still the all-time record amongst U.S. teams. The Soviets wound up settling for silver, losing in the final game to Yugoslavia, who was led by the legendary Kresimir Cosic. While the Philippines made history as the first Asian nation to host the games, their team was dreadful, finishing dead last by losing all eight games they played.

16) Uruguay 1967 (result: fourth place)

Key players: Darel Carrier, Michael Sillman, Kendall Rhine, Jay Miller, Al Tucker

Played in the Uruguayan winter in a cavernous, poorly insulated arena nicknamed “The Cylinder,” the 1967 FIBA World Championship presented unique challenges for the U.S. team. Namely, the arena would get so cold during games that players took to huddling on the bench under electric blankets. Despite those difficult conditions and the 18,000 raucous home fans, the Americans did manage to blow out the host Uruguayan team, in one of six consecutive wins to start off the tournament. This was the final U.S. roster to be composed of mainly AAU players, led by Carrier, a star at the time for the Phillips 66ers who would later make three ABA All-Star appearances. Carrier was the top scorer for the team while the burly Rhine dominated the boards and the U.S. even managed to beat the Soviets for the first time in a FIBA Championships. But their medal hopes faded at the end, with losses to Yugoslavia and Brazil leaving the Americans settling for fourth place. Aside from their defeat to the U.S., the Soviets otherwise went undefeated in the tournament to win gold for the first time.

15) Chile 1959 (result: second place)

Key players: Jerry Vayda, Dick Welsh, Bob Hodges, Ronald Olsen, Robert Jeangerard

No, that year isn’t a typo. Due to construction issues, the host Chileans were forced to delay the tournament from October of 1958 to January of 1959 (it also forced them to stage the games outdoors). This left the U.S., who were the defending champions from 1954, scrambling to find players during the active NCAA and AAU seasons. The U.S. committee initially pulled out of the tournament but were eventually coaxed into competing with a squad plucked from whatever enlisted airmen showed up to an open try-out at the Andrew Air Force Base. To make matters even worse, the Americans lost their best player, 1958 Olympian Robert Jeangerard, to an injury right before the event. But the scrappy U.S. squad still managed to win their first six games of the tournament before suffering a blowout loss to the U.S.S.R. The Americans still could have rallied and won a surprise gold medal but settled for silver after a loss to Brazil in their final game. Vayda, a former UNC star, led the way with 18.0 points per game, which was the record for an American at the FIBA Championship up until 1974. Though the Soviets finished with the same 7-2 overall record as the U.S., they did not win a medal due to disqualification for refusing to play against Formosa (now known as Chinese Taipei). This team is, as of now, the last U.S. FIBA World Championship squad to not feature a single future, present, or past NBA player.

14) Yugoslavia 1970 (result: fifth place)

Key players: Kenny Washington, Bill Walton, Darnell Hillman, Bruce McDonald, Michael Sillman

If you’re surprised to see that a team featuring Walton finished in fifth place, consider that the future Naismith Award winner and NBA MVP had just graduated high school when this tournament took place. At age 18, Walton was the youngest player in the entire tournament and played sparingly, hitting the floor only in garbage time of blowouts. It was instead his fellow UCLA Bruin Washington (who graduated in 1966 but never played in the NBA and was therefore still FIBA eligible) who took the reins of this team, leading the U.S. in assists, finishing second in scoring, and ultimately getting named to the All-Tournament team. The U.S. cruised through the early stages of the tournament, winning their first five games by an average of 27.2 points differential, then following that up with an upset of the Soviets. But an upset loss to Italy was then followed by defeats at the hands of the host Yugoslavia (in front of a hostile crowd that regularly littered the court with trash) and Brazil, leaving the U.S. out of the medals. Yugoslavia took advantage of being the first European country to host the FIBA World Championship, finishing with just one loss en route to their first title.

13) Greece 1998 (result: third place)

Key players: Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy King, Jason Sasser, Brad Miller, Trajan Langdon

After U.S. squads packed with NBA superstars dominated proceedings at the 1992 Olympics, 1994 FIBA World Championship, and 1996 Olympics, the rest of the world must have sighed in relief when the American roster was announced for 1998. Due to the ongoing lockout, the U.S. federation was forced to cobble a team together from the college, CBA, and overseas club ranks. The end result was far from the most talented or successful U.S. team in FIBA World Championship history but it may have been the most intriguing and inspiring. Coached by the legendary Rudy Tomjanovich, the U.S. were surprisingly competitive, stunning their opponents with a swarming pressure defense, and losing just once in six preliminary round games. It was certainly a motivated roster, with former also-rans like Oliver, Sasser, and King (of Michigan Fab Five fame) recognizing this tournament as their likely final chance to prove themselves worthy of returning to the NBA. The championship dream seemed alive when the U.S. jumped out to a big lead over Russia in the semifinals but they couldn’t hang on late and were ultimately defeated, 66-64. The Americans recovered to blow out the host Greeks in the bronze medal game, while Yugoslavia defeated the Russians for gold. In the end, only four players from this team managed to leverage the experience into a return engagement with the NBA: Oliver, Michael Hawkins, Kiwane Garris, and Gerard King, who won a championship one year later with the Spurs. But it did additionally launch the pro career of Miller, who went un-drafted in 1998 but signed with the Hornets immediately after the lockout was lifted and eventually made two All-Star appearances. 

12) Brazil 1954 (result: champions)

Key players: Kirby Minter, B.H. Born, Dick Retherford, Bill Johnson, Ed Solomon

If we were judging based on pure roster talent, this squad would drop down the list. But winning is winning and credit is due to the first U.S. champion team. It helped that they were a cohesive unit long before the tournament, with the roster culled entirely from the Peoria Caterpillars, who had just won their third consecutive AAU title. Of course, they were also aided by defending champions Argentina failing to qualify, as well as the Brazilian government denying entry visas to all communist nations, which included the powerhouse Soviet Union. Regardless of the circumstances, there’s no denying the U.S. dominating, winning all seven games they played, six of them by double digits, including 44-point drubbings of Israel and Formosa, and a 21-point win over Brazil to clinch the gold medal. The host Brazilians came away with silver, while Philippines won its only medal in FIBA World Championship history, a bronze. Minter was the leading scorer for the U.S. and named MVP of the tournament, while Born became the first player to win both a FIBA World Championship and an NCAA title, having done so with Kansas in 1952. The Peoria Caterpillars won further AAU titles in 1958 and 1960 before disbanding.

11) Puerto Rico 1974 (result: third place)

Key players: John Lucas, Gus Gerard, Luther Burden, Tom Boswell, Quinn Buckner

The seventh FIBA World Championship was the first in which the U.S. entered as the arguable favorites. Playing on what was essentially home soil in the territory of Puerto Rico, the American roster was stacked with top NCAA talent, including four All-Americans in Maryland’s Lucas, Indiana’s Buckner, Utah’s Burden, and Stanford’s Rich Kelley. As expected, they cruised through their first nine games, including a 50-point defeat of Philippines, a 37-point win over Spain, and a 20-point shellacking of the defending silver medalists from Brazil. The U.S. then made history by making a late rally to stun Yugoslavia, their first victory over that nation in FIBA World Championship history (after three previous defeats). This set up a showdown with the Soviets but the young Americans proved no match for Alexander Belov and company in a 105-94 defeat. With no knockout stage in this tournament, the U.S. finished 7-1 but wound up settling for bronze behind the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia, due to a convoluted tiebreaker system. A disappointment for Buckner, sure, but he would subsequently become one of only a handful of players to win an NCAA title (with Indiana in 1976), Olympic gold medal (in 1976), and NBA title (with the Celtics in 1984).

10) Colombia 1982 (result: second place)

Key players: Doc Rivers, Mitchell Wiggins, Antoine Carr, Jon Sundvold, Jim Thomas

Just as their rivalry came to define Olympic competition, the U.S. and Soviet Union squared off in the final three times over a stretch of four FIBA World Championships, starting in 1982. While the Americans found greater success later, it was the U.S.S.R. striking first in this one, holding off a late rally to prevail 95-94 and win gold. Just reaching the gold medal game broke a stretch of five straight FIBA World Championship tournaments without a top two finish for the United States. Rivers, who had just finished his junior season at Marquette, was the catalyst for success in this one, leading the U.S. team in scoring, assists, and steals, and getting named to the All-Tournament team. Though the U.S. roster featured no future NBA All-Stars, there were numerous future solid pro players amongst the ranks, including Wiggins, Carr, Sundvold, Jeff Turner, Mark West, and Joe Kleine.

“How do you follow up the greatest basketball team ever assembled? Well, you assemble the second greatest.”

9) Brazil 1963 (result: fourth place)

Key players: Willis Reed, Jerry Shipp, Don Kojis, Lucious Jackson, Walter Torrence

Led by two huge NCAA stars in Reed and Kojis, plus the AAU legend Shipp, the U.S. entered this tournament as the favorites. They had cruised to gold just a few weeks earlier at the Pan American Games with essentially the same roster and started off this tournament with easy wins over Argentina, Mexico, and Italy. But the U.S. struggled down the stretch, losing close games in heartbreaking fashion to Yugoslavia, the U.S.S.R. and Brazil. The host Brazilians, led by FIBA legend and tournament MVP Wlamir Marques, earned gold, something no other non-American, non-European team has done since. Shipp, a longtime star for the Phillips 66ers of the AAU, was the veteran leader (at age 27) and top scorer for this team. He wound find greater success a year later, leading the U.S. to gold at the 1964 Olympics (on a roster that also featured Jackson). Kojis was Shipp’s 66ers teammate at the time of this tournament but subsequently joined the Bullets as a rookie in ’63-’64, eventually making two All-Star teams.

8) China 2019 (result: seventh place)

Key players: Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, Harrison Barnes

2019 marked a turning point both for FIBA and the U.S. men’s national team. It was the inaugural tournament played under the World Cup branding, the first to take place in China, and the first to determine the majority of qualifying for the subsequent Olympics. For the U.S., it was Gregg Popovich’s international debut, following a decade of success under Coach K. Unfortunately, due to the locale and the timing (just a couple weeks before NBA training camp), it was also the first time under Jerry Colangelo’s chairmanship that the U.S. failed to convince top talent to participate. All the biggest stars at the time opted out for various reasons, leaving the U.S. with just two players, Middleton and Kemba Walker, who had made an All-Star roster in the prior five years. There was certainly some burgeoning talent here though, especially in young Celtics teammates Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, and the U.S. won its first five games, four of them in blowouts. But in the quarterfinals, the Americans made history in a lamentable way, becoming the first U.S. Olympic or FIBA World Cup team to lose a game in 13 years, breaking a streak of 53 straight wins. It was no fluke loss either, as the Americans were handily defeated by a French team highlighted by Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier. The U.S. then lost again in a classification match against Serbia before rallying for a seventh place game win over Poland. Led by tournament MVP Ricky Rubio, Spain came away with their second FIBA title, defeating Argentina in the final.

7) United States 2002 (result: sixth place)

Key players: Paul Pierce, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, Andre Miller, Ben Wallace

It was an inevitability eventually but that didn’t make the sting any less ignominious when this team became the first U.S. roster comprised of NBA players to lose in Olympic or FIBA World Championship play. It broke a streak of 58 straight wins when the U.S. dropped a second round game to Argentina and things only got worse from there, with a quarterfinals defeat at the hands of FR Yugoslavia and a fifth place game loss to Spain. The worst part is this all happened on home soil, as the 2002 FIBA World Championship was the first, and still only, edition hosted by the country that invented the sport, taking place in Indianapolis. It was a shocking result at the time but seems more obvious in retrospect when you review the roster. When Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal all declined invitations, the U.S. was left with talented but petulant youngsters (Pierce, Jermaine O’Neal, Baron Davis), talented players whose skills didn’t translate to the international game (Miller, Wallace, Marion), ancient local hero Reggie Miller (37 years old at the time), and, for some reason, Raef LaFrentz (and don’t forget the notoriously petty George Karl as head coach). Meanwhile, the rest of the world was only getting better. FR Yugoslavia, playing in its final tournament before becoming Serbia, won its fifth and final title behind Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic. Argentina was led to silver by Manu Ginobili, Germany took home bronze thanks to Dirk Nowitzki, and FIBA World Championship debuts were made by Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Hedo Turkoglu, and Andrei Kirilenko.

6) Argentina 1990 (result: third place)

Key players: Alonzo Mourning, Kenny Anderson, Billy Owens, Doug Smith, Christian Laettner

The cardiac kids of U.S. FIBA rosters, the 1990 team made three thrilling last minute comebacks to reach the semifinals, where they ran out of steam against a powerhouse Yugoslavia squad. Despite being one of the tournament’s youngest players at age 19, Anderson was named All-Tournament after leading the USA with 18.8 points and 4.3 assists per game. Mourning, who would return to the tournament four years later as part of Dream Team II, was a menace defensively and on the boards, while Owens and Laettner both contributed with scoring. While the thrilling, come-from-behind wins over Greece, Australia, and Puerto Rico were the hallmark of this U.S. squad, they also posted the the most lopsided win in U.S. FIBA World Championship history, a 146-67 shellacking of South Korea in the preliminary round. The talented but inexperienced Americans were game but ultimately no match in the semifinals for a Yugoslavia roster packed with future NBA stars in Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, and Drazen Petrovic. The Yugoslavians then cruised past the Soviet Union for the gold while the U.S. salvaged a bronze medal with an overtime win over Puerto Rico. This tournament was the end of an era in many ways, as the last FIBA World Championship hosted in South America (after the continent staged seven of the first 10), the last to feature united Yugoslavia and U.S.S.R. teams, the last appearance of Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt, and the last time the U.S. sent college players as representatives.

5) Spain 1986 (result: champions)

Key players: David Robinson, Kenny Smith, Derrick McKey, Charles D. Smith, Muggsy Bogues

For the first time in 34 years, the U.S. was victorious in the 1986 FIBA World Championship. Their roster was an impressive one, anchored by a strong frontline of Robinson, McKey, Sean Elliott, and Charles D. Smith, with a dynamic back court rotation of Kenny Smith, Bogues, and Steve Kerr. Facing a stacked competition that included future NBA stars Drazen Petrovic and Arvydas Sabonis, plus FIBA legends like Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt and Greece’s Nikos Galis, the U.S. came away almost completely unscathed, losing only in a second round game against Argentina. Their gold medal game win over the Soviet Union, which was spurred by a 23-point performance from Kenny Smith, exacted some revenge for the last three World Championships, wherein the Soviets had eliminated the Americans. This would turn out to be just one of two championships for the U.S. out of 11 appearances with amateur players. Two years later, Robinson and Charles D. Smith were part of the infamous 1988 Olympic team that settled for a bronze medal but this team was otherwise seemingly imbued with a legacy of winning. Robinson and Elliott later won titles as teammates on the Spurs, while Kerr, Kenny Smith, and Brian Shaw also earned multiple NBA championship rings.

4) Spain 2014 (result: champions)

Key players: James Harden, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson

Though he’s still yet to suit up for Team USA at the Olympics, Curry does have two FIBA World Cup gold medals in his trophy case. His first was earned playing light minutes as one of the youngest members of 2010 team but by 2014, Curry was a crucial component of the U.S. winning strategy. However, this title was ultimately a team effort, with seven different players averaging 10+ points per game, including Curry’s “Splash Brother” Thompson. Harden was the leading scorer for the U.S. at 14.2 points per game but it was Irving earning tournament MVP honors after scoring 26 points in a blowout gold medal game win over Serbia. In fact, the U.S. won every game going away, with the closest result a 21-point win over Turkey in the preliminary round. They defeated Slovenia by 43 points in the quarterfinals, Lithuania by 28 in the semifinals, and then Serbia by 37 in the final. Aside from the U.S. dominance, the biggest story in this World Cup was the disappointing showing by Spain, who lost in front of their home crowd to France in the quarterfinals and had to settle for fifth place. Curry would soon after become the first player to earn NBA MVP immediately after participating in a FIBA World Cup (Giannis Antetokounmpo has since joined him on the list). But the real history here was made by Davis, who is the only player in basketball history to win an NCAA title, NBA title, Olympic gold medal and FIBA World Cup gold medal.

3) Japan 2006 (result: lost in semifinals)

Key players: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard

When Jerry Colangelo took over as manager of Team USA basketball following the 2004 Olympics debacle, his first order of business was securing national team commitments from the NBA’s top rising talent. This meant that the U.S. was one of the youngest squads at the 2006 FIBA World Championships but that risk was worth the international experience for James, Anthony, Wade, Paul, Howard, and Chris Bosh, who all returned to lead the U.S. to gold at the 2008 Olympics. Granted, this U.S. team was still supremely talented and heavy favorites to win the title. They cruised through all their games until the semifinals, when a Greek team lacking a single NBA player stunned the U.S. in a definitive 101-95 result. The Americans recovered to defeat Argentina in the bronze medal match while Greece was annihilated by Spain in the championship game. Anthony was named All-Tournament after leading the U.S. in scoring, and broke Kenny Anderson’s American FIBA World Cup record for points in a game with 35 in a preliminary round win over Italy.

2) Turkey 2010 (result: champions)

Key players: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups

The “Redeem Team” had re-asserted U.S. dominance of international basketball with a gold medal performance at the 2008 Olympics, but a follow-up FIBA World Cup title two years later was no sure thing. Heading into 2010, the U.S. had failed to even reach the finals of the last three FIBA World Cup tournaments, settling for bronzes in 1998 and 2006, and a quarterfinal round loss in 2002. It certainly didn’t help that no member of that 2008 roster returned, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, and Chris Paul all opting out for 2010. That left the U.S. with an intriguing mix of veterans tailor made for international play (Billups, Odom, Andre Iguodala) with up-and-coming talent getting their feet wet for future Olympics play (Durant, Rose, Westbrook, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Love). Behind a breakout, dominating performance from Durant, who broke the FIBA World Cup scoring record and was named tournament MVP, the U.S. won all but one of their games by double-digits, including a 17-point thrashing of host nation Turkey in the gold medal game. Interesting side note on this one: Odom became the first, and to this day only, player to win a FIBA World Cup title the same year they won an NBA championship.

1) Canada 1994 (result: champions)

Key players: Shaquille O’Neal, Dominique Wilkins, Reggie Miller, Shawn Kemp, Joe Dumars

How do you follow up the greatest basketball team ever assembled? Well, you assemble the second greatest. This was the task of U.S. basketball in 1994 and they mobilized a healthy mix of steady elder statesmen (Wilkins, Dumars, Mark Price), veteran dominance (Miller, Kevin Johnson, Steve Smith), and youthful exuberance (O’Neal, Kemp, Alonzo Mourning). One notable absence was Isiah Thomas, the Dream Team snub who withdrew here as well, due to the Achilles’ injury which ultimately ended his career. Dubbed “Dream Team II” by the U.S. press, the 1994 American team was not quite as dominant as their namesake forebears but still easily dismantled the competition, winning all eight games at the FIBA World Championship by an average of 37.7 points per game. O’Neal was especially unstoppable, averaging 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game en route to earning tournament MVP honors. Miller and Kemp were also named to the All-Tournament team, while the aging Wilkins was the leading scorer when the U.S. defeated Russia 137-91 in the gold medal game at the SkyDome. It marked the third and likely final time that the U.S. and Russia met in the FIBA World Cup final game, with the U.S. now holding a 2-1 edge in those match-ups. The tournament also featured then current or future NBA players in Australia’s Andrew Gaze, Canada’s Steve Nash and Rick Fox, Croatia’s Dino Radja and Toni Kukoc, and Puerto Rico’s Jose Ortiz.

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