By Peter Atencio
Thirty-six out of a total 57 professional cagers playing in the National Basketball Association will suit up for their respective countries in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila.
This includes Utah Jazz cager Jordan Clarkson, who will play for the Philippines, and Chicago Bulls’ center Nikola Vucevic of the Montenegro national team, which arrived Thursday.
Clarkson has been in the country for the last two weeks, getting familiar with the playing conditions while practicing with the Chot Reyes-coached Gilas Pilipinas national men’s team.
The presence of the 6’10” Vucevic was revealed on Wednesday after Montenegro, under head coach Bosko Radovic, completed its final roster, a day before coming to Manila.
Organizers have rolled out the red carpet for the early arrivals, which also includes Angola, Mexico, and Greece.
Local organizing committee deputy director Erika Dy said after the delegation from Montenegro has settled down, that Angola and Mexico will be around by Saturday, followed by delegations for the Dominican Republic and Greece on Aug. 21, Monday.
Angola and Mexico, which have yet to announce their rosters, have no known NBA cagers coming with their delegation.
The Philippines, which is slated to have a friendly with Montenegro, will have Dominican Republic as its first opponent on August 25.
The Dominican Republic, to be led by Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Lester Quinones (Golden State Warriors), is in Group A with The Philippines, Angola and Italy.
Italy will be a challenge for Gilas with Clarkson’s teammate Simone Fontecchio competing against him and Team Philippines.
Greece, which will show up without star player Giannis Antetokounmpo after he begged off, will feature his brother instead in Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks).
The United States, expected to be a crowd drawer and a favorite by Filipino fans, will have a full roster of young NBA cagers, such as Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic), Mikal Bridges (Brooklyn Nets), Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers).
The Americans will also have Josh Hart (New York Knicks), Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Cameron Johnson (Brooklyn Nets), Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz), Bobby Portis (Milwaukee Bucks) and Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers).
France will be reinforced by Frank Ntilikina (a free agent, most recently from Dallas Mavericks), Nicolas Batum (LA Clippers), Evan Fournier (New York Knicks) and Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves).
Australia, which is slated to see action in Okinawa, will come in full force, with Xavier Cooks (Washington Wizards), Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans), Dante Exum (Dallas Mavericks), Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Joe Ingles (Orlando Magic), Jock Landale (Houston Rockets), Patty Mills (Atlanta Hawks), Matisse Thybulle (Portland Trail Blazers), Jack White (Oklahoma City Thunder).
Canada, which is playing in Indonesia and won’t have Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), is bringing in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), RJ Barrett (New York Knicks), Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), Lu Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Minnesota Timberwolves), Kelly Olynyk (Utah Jazz) and Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks).
Serbia has lined up Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks), Aleksej Pokusevski (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nikola Jovic (Miami Heat), Filip Petrusev (Philadelphia 76ers), while China will have Kyle Anderson (Minnesota Timberwolves).
Lithuania will feature Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans Pelicans), Azuolas Tubelis (Philadelphia 76ers).
Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz) will play for Finland, while Germany leans on Dennis Schroder (Toronto Raptors), Daniel Theis (Indiana Pacers), Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) and Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic), while Japan has Yuta Watanabe (Phoenix Suns).
Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), another fan favorite, will banner Slovenia, while Georgia will have stars like Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), Sandro Mamukelashvili (San Antonio Spurs).
Listed with Brazil is Raul Neto (Cleveland Cavaliers), along with Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies), Usman Garuba (Atlanta Hawks) for Spain.