Tweaking World Cup

One by one, the best players in the world are declining to participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup that the Philippines will host from 25 August to 10 September.

The United States, for instance, will be parading an entirely different team.

Instead of superstars like LeBron James, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard, the Americans will be sending a young and untested team when they shoot for the title in the prestigious 32-nation tournament.

Leading Team USA will be reigning National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic, together with fellow rising stars Jaren Jackson of the Memphis Grizzlies, Tyrese Halliburton of the Indiana Pacers, Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart of the New York Knicks, and Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz.

For good measure, the Americans inserted 28-year-old Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks and 26-year-old Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans to provide some “veteran” stability on the team.

However, none of the American players have the experience to compete at such an elite level as the World Cup or the Summer Olympics.

Team USA is not the only squad dealing with a manpower issue.

Italy, France, Greece, and Australia have also seen the withdrawal of some of the biggest names in international basketball.

The Italians, for one, will be missing the services of veteran international campaigner Danilo Gallinari, while the French will not have Joel Embiid or 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, the top pick in the recent NBA Rookie Draft.

Greece will also have a shaky roster following the knee surgery of NBA former Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Australia will have no Ben Simmons when it shoots for the gold medal in the biggest basketball event in the world.

World Cup organizers are feeling the pinch of these withdrawals.

No less than Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio admitted that their marketing team is having to work doubly hard to come up with significant revenues from ticket sales and sponsorships.

FIBA Joint Management Committee chief John Lucas agreed, saying the absence of marquee players in the biggest crowd-drawing team — the Americans — is making it more challenging for them to sell the event.

But the burden of solving this problem doesn’t lie on the shoulders of the organizers. The world-governing body in basketball — the International Basketball Federation — has to come up with significant changes to make sure that all of the world’s best and brightest stars will be in uniform for the World Cup.

FIBA has to tweak the World Cup before it completely loses its luster.

But how?

Well, the answer is simple: Turn the Summer Olympics into an age-group tournament and require all of its member countries to take the World Cup seriously by dangling an insane amount of prize money that they can use to boost their respective basketball programs.

FIBA should learn from the International Football Federation, the administrator of the biggest sport in the world.

The FIFA World Cup has evolved into the world’s biggest sports spectacle that rakes in massive earnings after FIFA decided to impose an age limit of 23 years on competitors of the Summer Olympics.

By turning the Summer Games into a U-23 tournament starting with the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, the FIFA World Cup became a must-see spectacle that is played only once every four years.

With this, all of the best players in the world — who were mostly over 23 — had no reason not to compete in the FIFA World Cup, leading to incredible profits from ticket sales, broadcast rights, sponsorships and merchandise.

To sweeten the deal, the football body allocated a huge amount for FIFA World Cup competitors, especially the champion team.

In the previous FIFA World Cup in Doha in 2022, champion Argentina took home $42 million from the $440 million that FIFA allotted for all competitors.

The runner-up, meanwhile, walked away with $30 million, third place got $27 million, fourth place $25 million, a quarterfinalist $17 million, round of 16 qualifiers $13 million each, and group stage competitors $9 million per. All 32 nations were given $1.5 million for merely showing up.

On the contrary, the FIBA World Cup has become a second-class tournament for elite athletes whose eyes are fixed on the glory of the Olympics.

For them, the Olympics — not the World Cup — is the best tournament in the world as national Olympic committees offer a huge amount in prize money for gold medalists, aside from the prestige and glory that further strengthen their respective brands.

It’s time for FIBA to come up with the necessary changes.

It has to tweak the FIBA World Cup before it completely loses its prestige and glory.

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